Biofuels...Down with Corn!

I have to say that with all the politicos in an uproar over corn-based ethanol, it seems to me that some of the realities of the situation get grossly overlooked. Since I'm not running for political office, I don't need to worry about saying the politically correct thing to keep the Iowa farmers happy. I have major issues with producing ethanol from corn for several reasons: environmental impact of the corn monoculture production systems, economic impact of diverting corn from the foodsystem (whether from direct processing or as animal feed), the inefficiency of the corn ethanol production process, and the poor comparison of corn ethanol compared to other types of ethanol.

If you want to see a really nifty, interactive comparison of the cost, energy efficiency, etc. of various types of ethanol, check out this National Geographic Biofuels Comparison.

You can also read the full cover page story from NationalGeographic, Green Dreams.

2008 Election

I don't know about you, but I haven't given much thought to the 2008 Presidential Election, other than to be thankful that I no longer live in Iowa, where the election insanity is already in full swing.
Even so, I thought you all might find this survey interesting. (HT: Ruth*)

Minnesota Public Radio has a site where you can go to choose your viewpoints on several issues, and then they show you how you match up with the various candidates.

If you want to see the current support for the candidates that you best match up with, check out this CNN website.

It seemed unfortunate to me that the candidate that I apparently match up with the best is one of the ones that I personally find repulsive. Ah well. We shall see.