American Thinking
Posted: May 27, 2008
Herbert Meyer, who served during the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council, is a contributor to the American Thinker, “a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans.”
Recently, he did a very thoughtful post entitled “The Bum Rap on Biofuels.” He noted that he had been staying out of the debate on that website, which was mostly negative towards biofuels, because he is “on the board of directors of Earth Biofuels, a Dallas-based producer of fuels including ethanol and biodiesel.”
Breaking his silence with full disclosure, he said he hoped that because he has a financial interest in biofuels that some readers would consider the possibility that he actually knows what he’s talking about.
One of the best points Meyer makes is that the US is producing more corn than ever before - enough to produce both food and fuel.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, in 1995 American farmers produced 192 million metric tons of corn. Of this, 14.7 million tons were used to make ethanol, from which 4.9 million tons of dried distillers grain were returned to the grain market. That left 182 million tons available for consumption and export.
In 2007, US corn production rose to 349 million metric tons. Of this, about 62 million tons were used to produce ethanol, of which 21 million tons of dried distillers grains were returned to the grain market. This left a whopping 308 million tons available for consumption and export — an increase of 110 million tons, or about 82 percent, over the 1995 figures.
He calls the main reason for global food shortages “the biggest, most under-reported story of our lives.”
Today, more human beings are emerging from poverty than at any time in history. If the present trend continues, within our lifetimes — or certainly within our children’s lifetimes — the majority of human beings will have emerged from poverty and joined the middle class.
That has led to more people improving their diets by buying more food and eating more meat - and this is a good thing!
And he of course points out the irrefutable connection between higher oil prices and higher prices for everything else, including and especially food.
Check it out - great read.