People always pick on Bush for being bad for the environment, but just look at what he has done. He has shown his undying support for the global production of ethanol. In the U.S.Bush is pushing hard for a surge of corn based ethanol which would rake in the profits for corn-state politicians and big agribusiness trade organizations!
Oh wait, doesn’t corn based ethanol actually take more net energy to produce?
Yep, just when I though Bush was turning over a new leaf, he goes and screws the environment once again.
The fact is, corn based ethanol production is much worse for the environment than just having our cars burning gasoline. The amount of dirty energy and pollution associated with the planting, fertilizing, harvesting and refining of corn into ethanol does not equal the 36% to 42% reduction in CO2 emissions that the Renewable Fuels Association claims. I should also mention that the Renewable Fuels Association is funded by Arthur Daniels Midland, who happens to be a large agribusiness with everything to gain from increased corn production.
I’m not saying that the “Renewable Fuels Association” is lying, but a few independent studies have shown only an 11% to 14% reduction in CO2 emissions. Either way that emission reduction is made up two fold with the huge amount of energy it takes to produce the ethanol. Not only will corn ethanol increase total CO2 emissions, but it will also hurt the local ecosystem because of increased insecticides and soil erosion.
Over all this Ethanol initiative is a very bad idea and will ultimately hurt the little progress that environmentalist have already made. We obviously can not depend on our government to make sound decisions to decrease CO2 emissions and stop global warming. So, we need to do our part as consumers and make proper buying decisions so we can shape the future market.
References: http://www.energybulletin.net/25558.html