current thoughts on the environment

I'm all for protecting the environment. Not even just protecting it. Taking steps to fix it. I believe that "scientists" who say global warming doesn't exist/is a natural phenomenon/whatever are not scientists. (My theories: paid off by the oil companies/right wing, missing half a brain...is there a disorder that puts you permanently in denial?) I was driving behind a Yaris yesterday and nearly started drooling. Don't even get me started on the Prius.

I do think that ethanol has the potential to solve a lot of problems that stem from our dependence on foreign oil. However, corn-based ethanol? Not so exciting.

Disclaimer: I'm a farmer's daughter, but somehow I managed to escape with little to no knowledge about agriculture.

But it takes a ridiculous amount of energy to convert corn into viable ethanol. Business Week says it's a net energy waste, because it's inefficient to use as fuel, too. Aside from that, though, do you know how many people we could feed in this world with that corn? Granted, corn doesn't necessarily have the strongest nutritional punch, but something has to be better than nothing, right?

Even so, it seems like that's the way we're going to go. Which has led to complaints about higher prices for cereal and other corn-based products. I'll put my "farmer's daughter" hat on for a moment. So your prices are going up. Maybe that means that my dad will able to start to dig himself out of debt. See, he's not a corporate farmer, and the past few years have been dry. Long story short, that means debt. You've been paying the same price for milk for years as his debt has piled up.

Personal anecdotes aside, wouldn't we as a country rather pay a little more to support our farmers (corporate or famiy-owned) rather than supporting Big Oil, which supports Big Middle East?

I would think so.

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In other news, "British squirrels are the most cunning."