There’s Too Much Monsanto (NYSE:MON) In The Corn
$MON, $CORN, $SOYB, $OIL, $UGA
The US government’s “Green Energy” program is backfiring, as there is nothing “Green” about planting an absolutely unnecessary surplus of Corn, especially when natural prairies are being sacrificed.
In October 2015, polls revealed that Y 2016 presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was leading in Iowa. Shortly after, Donald Trump retweeted this message:10 “‘@mygreenhippo #BenCarson is now leading in the #polls in #Iowa. Too much #Monsanto in the #corn creates issues in the brain? #Trump #GOP.’”
The retweet was deleted after a few hours and Mr. Trump blamed it on a “young intern,” but there was likely a very good reason why the reTweet was quickly removed. Donald Trump was trailing in Iowa, which is 1 of the leading producers of Monsanto’s taxpayer-subsidized Corn, which in turn is used to produce Ethanol.
According to the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Ethanol is a major market for Iowa Corn, and 47% of Iowa Corn goes into Ethanol production. There are 42 Corn Ethanol plants in the state, which produce close to 25% of all Ethanol production in the US.
Ethanol is set to become a central issue in the upcoming Presidential election.
As reported by Bloomberg earlier this year:“… [E]fforts [were made] by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad… to start a grass-roots effort to make ethanol a central issue in the Iowa caucuses next January, traditionally the first vote of the presidential primary season. Earlier this year, Branstad announced the formation of a new group, America’s Renewable Future, which intends to mobilize a pro-Ethanol army of 25,000 people from each party to participate in the caucuses.
The group is backed by Growth Energy, the most active Ethanol lobby, and headed by Mr. Branstad’s son Eric, who was Iowa field director for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. He says he plans to open an office in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. ‘We can get our message into the coffee shops where the candidates are,’ Eric says. ‘Then we can use Iowa’s unique status to teach the rest of the country how important Ethanol is.’”
The US Green Energy policy requires Oil companies to blend Corn Ethanol into their gasoline, which had driven up Corn prices until last year and created a tragic environmental blunder.
The federal government moved to lower Ethanol quotas for Crude Oil refiners, but the US EPA increased them anyway earlier this year. But the real issue is that plowing up native grasslands to plant vast expanses of Corn and Soybean, the height of mono-culture, needs to be stopped, and not further subsidized by the government.
Such practice releases CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the environment while increasing erosion and the use of toxic fertilizers and other chemicals; it also destroys habitat for native plants and wildlife.
Corn crops are already subsidized by the US government, so between subsidies and rising Ethanol-driven prices, Corn has become quite a cash Crop for farmers.
But this “Green Energy” program is backfiring, because there’s nothing “Green” about planting an absolutely unnecessary surplus of Corn, especially when natural prairies are being sacrificed. Not to mention, Ethanol has been found to be worse for engines,worse for mileage, and more about political agendas than economic or environmental ones.
As Ron Paul said: “Today, the government decides and they misdirect the investment to their friends in the corn industry or the food industry. Think how many taxpayer dollars have been spent on corn [for ethanol], and there’s nobody now really defending that as an efficient way to create diesel fuel or ethanol. The money is spent for political reasons and not for economic reasons. It’s the worst way in the world to try to develop an alternative fuel.”
As further reported by Clean Technica, Corn Ethanol fuel standards have created more problems than solutions: “A 10-year review of the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by researchers at the University of Tennessee (UT) found that the RFS is ‘too reliant’ on Corn Ethanol, and the production of this bio-fuel is resulting in additional water and soil problems, as well as ‘hampering advancements’ in other bio-fuels.”
The Big Q: how can there be talks of a food shortage when the US is using up some of its best soil to grow Corn for fuel?
Not to mention that, by driving up prices, it may be contributing to hunger. More than 800-M people around the world do not have access to enough to eat, and when Corn prices rise, it makes it difficult for even more people to feed their families.
Nearly 50% of the Corn grown in the US goes toward motor fuel, while people are starving around the world…
Monsanto’s GM crops are often touted as necessary to ensure global food security, even though studies show reduced crop yields with their use.
Feed the world is Bunk, more like starve the world to protect Monsanto’s fuel subsidy.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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