Food prices in 2013 were already poised to soar because of the drought and lowest supply of corn in decades. Revolutions and turmoil are breaking out all over the world. And what does Obama’s EPA do? They mandate a 20% increase in the usage of bio-fuels next year. They are mandating that more of our limited supply of corn be converted to a fuel that reduces gas mileage and requires more energy to produce than it provides. This mandate will drive prices higher, reduce supply, and result in people in other countries dying from starvation. This decision is so idiotic and foolish, it’s almost as if Obama is trying to create a worldwide shitstorm.
EPA Raises 2013 Biofuels Target
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday increased 2013 biofuel targets.
The EPA is requiring refiners to blend 1.28 billion gallons of biodiesel into traditional transportation fuel next year, vs. a 1-billion gallon requirement for 2012.
According to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the new biofuel blending requirement meets goals set forth by Congress and is “another step that strengthens America’s energy security by reducing dependence of foreign oil.”
According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the new blending requirements will also create more rural jobs. “Over the past three years, we have doubled generation from renewable energy and today’s announcement by the EPA will ensure that we are continuing to utilize biodiesel to help meet our energy needs, create jobs and strengthen the rural economy,” he said, as reported by The Hill.
Although the EPA believes the increased blending requirement, part of the renewable fuel standard (RFS), is crucial to the growth of alternatives fuels, not everyone is convinced. Republicans have criticized the move as a way to prop up the biofuels industry, the website reported.
In addition, the American Petroleum Institute (API) has sued the EPA in regards to the RFS. “EPA’s mandate will unnecessarily raise the cost of making diesel fuel,” Bob Greco, API’s downstream group director, said in a statement. “By picking energy winners and losers, the EPA takes away consumer choice and further threatens public acceptance of biofuels.
AWD says:
Brilliant move by Obama and his EPA minions. What conscionable reason could they have for increasing ethanol usage? None.
As an aside, they launched a similar anti-obama campaign around here, and all coal-producing states.
Is 2012 the coal election?
September 16, 2012 BY BECKY MALKOVICH, THE SOUTHERN
The gigantic signs in front of American Coal Co. on Illinois 34 near Galatia are impossible to miss.
Big bold letters proclaim “Save Southern Illinois” on top of even bigger letters urging voters to “Fire Obama.”
The signs are an unprecedented step by Murray Energy Corp., owner of American Coal.
“The ‘Fire Obama’ signs are recognition of (President Barack) Obama’s war on coal and the destruction of thousands of coal-related jobs over the past four years,” according to an emailed statement from the company.
Murray and other coal companies and organizations are taking an active role in the upcoming presidential election, encouraging voters to consider the future of the coal mining industry when they step into the voting booth in November.
“This election is absolutely critical to the survival of the coal industry and thousands of jobs in southern Illinois,” the email read.
“Mr. Obama has already destroyed 83,000 megawatts of coal-fired electricity generation in America and, if re-elected, his destruction will continue. Obama’s job killing policies have resulted in the announced closure of 175 power plants as well as the closure of several American coal mines, costing thousands of hard-working Americans their jobs.”
Murray is backing the candidacy of Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, saying he will protect coal jobs and roll back “senseless and costly regulations promulgated by Mr. Obama.”
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18th September 2012 at 3:13 pm
TeresaE says:
Only in America would the best/easiest/ cheapest “solution” (or at least part of the transition) is totally ignored in exchange for driving food prices through the roof.
Well, now that I think about it, maybe this is part of the grand plan (that us mere mortals are too ignorant to see/understand).
Our # 1 problem in this country is soon to be our weight and the collective burden of millions of fat non-workers demanding free food and meds.
See, Obama isn’t so stupid, by driving up the costs of food, people should get the opportunity to go hungry, thus reducing their weight, thus reducing the meds that O is paying for.
What a grand plan. By george, I think Stan has been onto something.
Our supreme savior has it all figured out.
Funny though, I don’t seem to hear Romney using this as news blip, which probably means he would have ZERO thoughts of changing it.
Systematically destroyed. It ain’t a freaking accident, our way of life is being systematically destroyed by the very people the sheep think are looking out for us. Would be funny as hell if not so brutally scary.
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18th September 2012 at 3:23 pm
AWD says:
We can do whatever we want with our food, screw the rest of the world. We have obese people to feed. We have pets that need feeding. We have trucks and SUV’s that need feeding.
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18th September 2012 at 4:06 pm
Thinker says:
TE, I’ll go one further. I don’t think Obama wants people to lose weight to reduce healthcare costs, I believe he wants to increase the cost of food to the point where a large majority of Americans have to depend on the government for food assistance. Only then will they have full control of the country.
The executive orders already exist for the President to declare an emergency situation and procure food-producing land, facilities and expertise in order to feed the population. If you ensure that the population is starving, you create the scenario whereby that emergency can be declared and people are forced to give up what they have in order for it to be redistributed to the whole.
And those who are hungry enough will give up their freedoms to get the food they need for their families, whether that means any of the Bill of Rights provisions or even their physical freedom by being relocated to camps where they can be fed.
Sorry, but a plan like that is the only way this kind of policy makes any sense.
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18th September 2012 at 4:07 pm
Mr. Happy says:
Don’t blame Obama. He just does what he is told. You make it sound like he’s involved with the decision making process. That function ended with Eisenhower and Kennedy.
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18th September 2012 at 5:05 pm
youcanthavemyglock says:
so how are those wool prices? sounds tastier by the day or should I start buying Meals Ready to Eat from cheaperthandirt…
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18th September 2012 at 5:08 pm
Maddie's Mom says:
AWD says:
“We have obese people to feed. ”
And obese prisoners apparently.
http://www.examiner.com/article/an-obese-death-row-inmate-can-t-be-executed-until-he-loses-weight
TeresaE says:
“Systematically destroyed. It ain’t a freaking accident, our way of life is being systematically destroyed by the very people the sheep think are looking out for us.”
This is what I tell my dh frequently. I don’t think he’s a believer.
Yet.
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18th September 2012 at 5:11 pm
Chicago999444 says:
Nothing infuriates me like the ethanol subsidy, which is nothing more than welfare for agribusiness. It has been proven over and over that ethanol is almost negative EREOI and only “works” with subsidies. By using fossil fuel-based fertilizer to grow corn for ethanol production, we are converting high-density energy to less-dense energy, for a substantial net waste of energy.
And we’re impoverishing our population and setting ourselves up for a famine in the process.
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18th September 2012 at 5:12 pm
efarmer says:
Chicago,
There is no ethanol subsidy. None. Hasn’t been one since Jan. 1. And even that wasn’t a subsidy, it was a tax credit. Big difference.
There IS a mandate, but even if it were removed there would be ethanol. It’s just math.
Sorry to burst your bubble,
EF
Hot debate. What do you think?
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18th September 2012 at 5:20 pm
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
What else can you expect from the eco-loons? Their agenda is to destroy cheap energy and cheap food for the purposes of population reduction.
Their goal is genocide, pure and simple, and if that kills off the Nascar loving, SUV driving, cheese doodle eating redneck so much the better.
Sheesh.
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18th September 2012 at 5:24 pm
Stan says:
Obama in 2012!!
For hope and change in lower food and fuel prices!!!!
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18th September 2012 at 5:34 pm
Chicago999444 says:
A tax credit is a subsidy, sorry. It is a subsidy in that it rewards a particular activity or behavior, and the loss of the taxes must be offset by someone else paying more.
As one who gets none of the tax credits available to others for their ethanol production, baby production, solar panels, mortgage interest, or whatever, I have to state that I tire of paying more taxes than would be necessary were these credits not granted. Worse, they are designed to reward behaviors that are uneconomical, else people would engage in them without the “carrot” of a tax credit.
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18th September 2012 at 5:45 pm
efarmer says:
Well regardless, the oil industry gets subsidies and tax credits. And the ethanol tax credit went to them as well.
You should buy a farm and get in on the “candy” that so many think is so fucking wonderful.
EF
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18th September 2012 at 5:57 pm
Llpoh says:
Personally, I love ethanol, and buy lots of it one fifth at a time.
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18th September 2012 at 6:31 pm
SSS says:
“Mr. Obama has already destroyed 83,000 megawatts of coal-fired electricity generation in America and, if re-elected, his destruction will continue. Obama’s job killing policies have resulted in the announced closure of 175 power plants as well as the closure of several American coal mines, costing thousands of hard-working Americans their jobs.”
—-Murray Energy Corp. Email
WTF? We’re going the wrong way. We need to ADD 350,000 megawats of power to the grid by 2030, per Department of Energy reporting. And through our looney laws, we’ve already SUBTRACTED 83,000 megawatts with more on the way. Here come the rolling brownouts and blackouts, folks. Just a matter of time.
“Their (eco-loons) goal is genocide, pure and simple.”
—-Hope
I think you’re right. And one of them works in the White House, science czar John Holdren. He advocated global population control in the 1970s through an armed international police force. I’m not kidding.
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18th September 2012 at 6:36 pm
SSS says:
I’m guessing efarmer gets a little annoyed when the subject of ethanol comes up. Just a guess, mind you.
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18th September 2012 at 6:38 pm
efarmer says:
SSS,
This is the rub. I was just here minding my own business. I didn’t make the rules. When anyone has a problem, farmers and agribusiness take the hit.
CALL FUCKING NANCY PELOSI AND HARRY REID AND BARACK OBAMA AND THE REST OF THE FUCKERS THERE. WASHINGTON IS THE FUCKING PROBLEM.
Other than that, I am fine.
EF
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18th September 2012 at 6:46 pm
Stoneman85 says:
A very telling tale as to “why” things are happening the way they are can be found in a movie called “Agenda: Grinding America Down” VERY eye opening!
http://agendadocumentary.com/
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18th September 2012 at 8:34 pm
jimski says:
Managing a million $ auto repair shop i see just what ethanol has done to the retail consumer. On the good side is fuel line freezeup is a thing of the past. Hell even at -20 f e10 ( regular to you retail folks ) freezup just can not happen. What has happened is the endless software patching for fuel problems.
E10 is just part of the problem. Most fuel manufacturers are under orders to produce lower volativity fuels in the summer to reduce smog. In the winter they go back to a more standardized fuel blend that burns easier. Most vehicles use sensors that czn adapt quickly to the changing oxygen content of these blends. Vehicles equipt with a wide band fuel air sensor can swallow these blends and spit out acceptabe performance as well as regulated emissions. Nit all vehicles have a wide band sensor.
The vehicles without these sensors can take freakin forever to learn summer and winter blends. If you are a little old lady driving a 2003 whatever who filled up in march and drove 200 miles in 5 months you will wind up in my shop. You will stall and run like crap and i will have to try a software patch to fic your car. To do so i will need to by a j-tool to load the software
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18th September 2012 at 8:39 pm
John Angelo says:
As I read the TBP comments section each day, I observe a lot of rational reasonable people. This topic in particular is not one that I’m readily familiar with, but I see those who understand the issues and they’re frustrated at the direction of policy in this arena. On topic after topic AFTER TOPIC there are reasonable rational people that tear our government’s policies to shreds, yet the policies persist and ANOTHER opportunity to do what’s right is lost. How much longer can a government opposed to the best interests of it’s people persist? I like learning and being ever more informed of the world around me, but there are some days I have difficulty fluctuating between fury, exhaustion, and incredulity. God save the Republic.
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18th September 2012 at 8:43 pm
jimski says:
Crapin to be continued if anyone cares.
Not only do i have to buy a 2k tool to load the patch i have to have access to the oem websites to download the patch. Some like honda and toyota give me access per day for 30 nuts and some want a 6 month commitment for 1200 bucks. Then there is the load time. Most vehicles are quick but some are very slow. So now i have to buy a special battery charger with low ac ripple to maintain the battery lest we fault out the software load. These chargers start at 600 bucks.
Now the best part. After doing about 800 software uodates for the last 2 years we have a pcm ( computer) failure rate of 3%. Not real high 3%. Wait thats 24 power control modules that crashed and could not be restored and had to be replaced. Who the fuck pays for that?
And folks wonder why out labor rate is more than a doctor.
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18th September 2012 at 8:48 pm
Bruce says:
HZK says………..
Their goal is genocide, pure and simple, and if that kills off the Nascar loving, SUV driving, cheese doodle eating redneck so much the better.
But HZK, that will darn near wipe out the whole Republican party. For the plan to work it must also wipe out the Toyota driving, latte sipping, gay KFC eating, welfare whining victimized FSA Democratic party too.
Wait a minute!…………………. If they got rid of all the dumb ass Wingnut Bubbas and all the Socilaist Mooching Morons whats so bad about that? If we don’t get “genocided” along with all the goobers maybe Doom won’t turn out to be as bad as bad as we think after all.
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18th September 2012 at 10:41 pm
John Coster says:
The only thing green about this policy is the money changing hands.
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18th September 2012 at 11:56 am
Ron says:
Bruce at least the leftist looneys wont make it.Theyre antigun agenda well bite them in the ass.
I was reading the guvment wants ethanol to go as high as 75 percent in the blend.They better find something besides corn.
Yep a whole country of morons that couldnt see Ron Paul for what he was.
Funny im trying to decide on a new trade and have been looking at courses in Either Bio fuel production operations,or Natural gas plant operations. The guvment is offering money to vets for retraining.I guess to keep them off the dole.But all the high demand jobs they list are rediculous.
Like we need carpenters and electricians.Theres so many of them unemployed right now.I look at the lists and they all look like jobs with no future.VRAP program.
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18th September 2012 at 12:36 am