An Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama
Senator Obama,
I invite you to glance at this article before reading my letter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/world/americas/18food.html?hp
It is no secret that World Hunger is on the rise. The cause is apparent - rising food costs. What ma not be so apparent is why. There are so many articles on what is happening, but not so many on why. Why is wheat now so expensive? Why are normally reasonably prices crops now up close to 50% in cost? The answer is quite clear, but nobody is talking about it. The reason is ethanol.
With the recent government regulation requiring more fuels to be combined with ethanol, the demand for corn has risen sharply. Farmers would be crazy to not grow corn, as it is selling almost immediately to the energy industry. Where this may be good for the farmers, it immediately creates a shortage in supply for other crops, causing the price to increase dramatically. Obviously, I don’t need to quote simple economics to you, as I am sure you are well aware of how they work.
The problem here is the ethanol market. The market is artificial… driven by a scare of global warming, the false benefits that ethanol is supposed to provide, and government regulation. Sure, ethanol lowers our dependence on fossil fuels, but it is by no mean a replacement. Even the benefits of ethanol are questionable, even marginal at best (http://environmentalalmanac.blogspot.com/2005/10/ethanol-and-environment.html).
The point I am trying to make here is “is it worth it?” Is it worth starving hundreds of thousands of people and collapsing several governments due to food shortages and riots… just so the ethanol industry can take off and make some money for a few companies? I think the answer is obvious.
It’s very frustrating in an economic system like ours to see significant scientific processes be held back because it is “bad for the economy.” We should be eliminating our dependence on oil based fuels completely, not supplementing it with a food source. I find it hard to believe that we can build a rocket, launch it to Mars, and drop off a rover that we can control from a planet away and sent pictures back… but we can’t make an electric or magnetic based engine for cars?
Another thing that irritates me is “why corn?” Why must ethanol be made from corn? There are a ton of other plants that can be refined into oils, why is corn the one for us? It is a food source, yet we burn it up for transportation. What about this plant…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_strauss/20070904.html
or this…
http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2008/01/ethanol23
There has also been a lot of hype about algae producing biofuels.
http://www.scribemedia.org/2007/12/12/algae-biofuel-valcent-vertigro/
All of this provides a more reasonable source of biofuel than corn, yet corn is the source that gets government subsidies and ends up driving the food crisis higher around the world.
I realize that you are not my senator. I am not an Illinois resident. You are, however, possibly the next president of the United States. I really want this to be brought to your attention. I may not be too out of place, considering all of my family is from Illinois, and many of them still reside there. I will also be sending this to my senator, and my representatives.
Senator, I hope this has struck a chord with you in some way, as it is in the forefront of what I fell should be addressed immediately by our government. With you potentially becoming the next president of the United States, I feel submitting this letter to you was my best course of action.
Thank you for your time Senator.
Sincerely,
Derek Wagner
