Comment Re:American Agri-business Versus DOD (Score 1) 552
I think you're not thinking far enough down the road. Consider that just because the government is placating the angry american farmer now (before a major election) it is not safe to assume that long term energy policies will be set by present patterns.
Corn futures just took a HUGE tumble as the market just realized that no matter what Archer Midland Daniels says the market for Ethanol is not developed nor does consumer demand play out the kind of production that they want to see. Further corn constitutes the majority foodstuff of both central and south america as well as providing the primary feed stake of most commercial meat operations. When the average american sees milk hit 6 or 7 bucks a gallon because dairy feed is impossible to buy on the open market and being able to afford steak is a distant memory and all our neighbors to the south are rioting over the price of corn tortillas the government isn't going to care what the corn lobby has to say about energy policy.
There is also HIGHLY relevant fact that intensive agriculture is praticed in the midwest through the use of ground water irrigation, the resevoirs that most of the midwest 'breadbasket' states rely are classified as fossil water (Wiki) and thus are not a sustainable or renewable energy source at all. And I'm guessing the DoD has competent enough hydrologists to already know this.
Corn futures just took a HUGE tumble as the market just realized that no matter what Archer Midland Daniels says the market for Ethanol is not developed nor does consumer demand play out the kind of production that they want to see. Further corn constitutes the majority foodstuff of both central and south america as well as providing the primary feed stake of most commercial meat operations. When the average american sees milk hit 6 or 7 bucks a gallon because dairy feed is impossible to buy on the open market and being able to afford steak is a distant memory and all our neighbors to the south are rioting over the price of corn tortillas the government isn't going to care what the corn lobby has to say about energy policy.
There is also HIGHLY relevant fact that intensive agriculture is praticed in the midwest through the use of ground water irrigation, the resevoirs that most of the midwest 'breadbasket' states rely are classified as fossil water (Wiki) and thus are not a sustainable or renewable energy source at all. And I'm guessing the DoD has competent enough hydrologists to already know this.
