Secrets of the City

While we’re on the subject of biofuels, the Guardian recently reported that a World Bank study holds biofuels responsible for pushing up the cost of food internationally.

The NY Times on the rising cost of food, in which the US Agriculture secretary insists that biofuels are responsible for only 2-3% of the increase in global food prices.

look, max, obviously third world hunger is less important than getting the kids to soccer practice. so zip it, ok?

now, mommy needs a soy mochacino latte so she’s going to swing by the starbux 3 miles out of the way.

Great news! Now if only the free in-home, in-state media would let people in on the joke.

I also saw the World Bank study, which has seemingly turned Mr. Brown against biofuels.

It is interesting to note that after 30 years of being a net oil exporter, Great Britain is now again importing oil for its domestic needs. What’s the next step for the Brits, and the rest of Europe?

@wayne. That Starbucks is closed. Poor mommy.

remember, 98 percent of US commuters favour public transit for others! I’m pretty sure a similar number feels like it’s someone else’s fault that those poor children in some other country have flies in their eyes and no food to eat. Surely not me!

and bob, you know I’ve always been against biofuels ):
mass individual transportation is not a sustainable paradigm for a country this large. nobody’s going to like the change or the consequences of changing after they’ve pushed it this far, but it’s unavoidable.

there’s no whiz-bang gee-golly-neato technological fix for a structural problem this big. the only thing that will help is an actual structural correction to our way of life and economy. sorry guys, the american dream is so dead.

It’s also funny how rabid provincialism and all of this community orginization and alledgance hasn’t translated into an overall decrease in fuel consumption. Big talk, but when another co-op closes… or another family farm shifts to corn for guaranteed state money, thereby ending their contributions of tomatoes or peas at the farmers market; what then?

Btw, if you demonize something long enough, it just may die.

If none of this makes any sense, it ’cause I’m drunk on Korean televisions.

then I will continue to demonize suburbs, mason!

I rode my bike to work again today, but I still think Wayne is a little prick…at least on MNSpeak. And he seemed so nice in person.

and bob, you know I’ve always been against biofuels ):

Perhaps, but I have always been pro-wayno. I just can’t help myself.

From the Dennis Anderson story:

“…DNR vehicles will use about 28,000 gallons of E85 this year, about 3 percent of the agency’s total fuel consumption.”

Some perspective — last year, Minnesotans bought more than 21 million gallons of E85. Of that, 412,483 gallons went to state-owned vehicles (as required by two Executive Orders).

Now, Geoff, let’s not make this about personalities.

Btw, if you demonize something long enough, it just may die.

Sometimes it is simpler to make a small donation to the cause…

oh geoff, I am nice in person!

On a releated note, any fans of dirt track racing on this site?

If so, and you are not doing anything Wednesday night, I’ll be at the Madison Speedway in beautiful Madision, MN for one of the Governor’s Ethanol Challenge races and a fuel promotion. Stop by, and I’ll buy you a Walking Taco Salad.

oh geoff, I am nice in person!

I can confirm this. Surprisingly, most of us are.

Except me.

yeah bob punched me in the face and spat on me.

and by that I mean he was really nice and gave me some ALA schwag that I carried stuff in while I rode my bike.

You speak of your bike in past tense, wayne. Have I missed something?

For all the talk about the water use of ethanol refineries, few in the media have noted the enormous amounts of water used to generate electricity in this state. One notable exception is the Mankato Free-Press.

Maybe instead of blaming biofuels, we should blame the livestock industry? Last time I checked, almost 3/4 of our corn crop is used for livestock feed. That far outweighs what is used for biofuels.

AND, considering only about 10% of the available energy is passed on to the next trophic level, we’d see a vast increase in production efficiency by reducing livestock.

no, bob, sadly the bag had to go into retirement. I live a hard life, and things like bags and pants can’t keep up with me for long.

I can’t wait until we can grow meat in tubes in laboratories. phasing out the livestock farming industry will do wonders for us, and we can make meat healthier if we grow it in a laboratory environment.

Fun fact: there are approximately 2.4 million cattle (both beef and dairy) in Minnesota.

* Minnesota ranks 5th nationally in dairy cattle production.
* Minnesota ranks 7th in total production of red meat.
* Minnesota ranks 12th nationally in cattle and calves.

Wayne, I am so with you!. STEAK, I miss you! As soon as they grow you in a tube, I’m eatin’ you all up!

Giving a much more wholesome meaning to tubesteak.

I also see ZZTop as the spokespeople for the new tube steak.

Of course playing Tube Steak Boogie

we’d see a vast increase in production efficiency by reducing livestock
We’d also see a drop in Methane which, according to Kyoto agreements, is 1000 times worse for than environment than CO2.

@justpbob

Informal influence, or corruption? Dont’ ask John McCain! Almost seems as if we live the existentialist’s dream.

Informal influence, or corruption?

I guess that all depends on your point of view.