Since ethanol is primarily derived from corn in the Midwest (47 percent of the crop), the amount of fossil fuel needed to plant, harvest and transport the corn to places like ADM, the net carbon savings is less than 25 percent. This doesn’t even factor in the hazardous chemicals that affect the soil, air and water, considering that over half our rivers and streams are polluted so much that they are not fit for human consumption or use.
Factor in the reduced MPG that vehicles get with ethanol, the 10 gallons of water needed to process one gallon of the product and the fact that we make so much that we are exporting it, please help me understand how the economic benefits are sufficient to offset the harm.
We aren’t feeding the world with our corn; we’re feeding our SUVs.
If it wasn’t for the excessive amount of government subsidies for the growing of the GMO corn, you wouldn’t be writing an editorial supporting this product that is causing irreversible harm to our environment (“Work to keep Renewable Fuel Standards high,” Dec. 3).
Leo Salat, Letter to the Editor, Ceder Rapids, IA, Gazette, 1/3/16
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