May 3, 2008
Priceless ©
Vol. 3 Issue
9
It appears grain foods like corn, wheat and
rice are playing hide and seek with the
supermarket shelves
these days. The question is what are the
factors that may be causing this dearth.
Some global warming proponents, like
Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute
claim, "The irrigation
water vital for the grain crops that feed
China and India is at risk of drying up, as
global warming melts
the glaciers that feed Asia's biggest
rivers. The world has never faced such a
predictably massive threat
to food production as that posed by the
melting mountain glaciers of Asia." That
region of the world
probably houses the largest percentage of
population density in the world. Therefore,
the question
remains, are the Asian countries stockpiling
grain supplies to the detriment of rest of
the world. I do not
believe that proposition. Especially when
the U.S. is importing wheat and other grains
for the first time
that I can remember. I did not know that
Asia was the only place in the world where
these crops are
grown.
When the price of a sack of flour or rice
in Haiti is twenty times that of the average
days pay for a
worker, it is no wonder why there is a run
on stores like Costco, BJ's, Walmart and
Sam's Clubs, which
has now caused them to limit the amount you
can purchase. Relatives of people living in
Haiti and other
depressed countries, who reside in the U.S.,
are buying it up and shipping it to their
relatives abroad. The
other problem that is on the agenda is
energy. Ethanol has become the new
catchword. This one word is
being touted as the weapon in our fight
against our addiction to oil. It is like
Methadone for oil addiction.
In addition, it is using up our corn supply
like champagne on New Year's Eve.
It is not our addiction to oil as I see
it; it is our addiction to foreign oil. It
is not only my assertion, but
many in the energy sector and the President
as well. We have enough of our own oil right
here in
America, which can reverse our dependence on
OPEC and release the binds that hold us in
their grasp.
Why do our congressional leaders [a
misnomer, they don't lead they rant]
continually refuse to allow us
to drill our own oil? Are they that blind or
do the tree-huggers [Environmentalists]
control their thought
process. They are worried about displacing
the Caribou or Spotted Owl. However, they
have no problem
displacing us through eminent domain if they
needed our houses for a municipal parking
lot. It does not
take a brain surgeon to realize there are
perfectly limpid reasons why we should be
drilling our own oil
and reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Let me spell them out for you and try to
explain in simple terms what it will mean to
every American. Let
us start with the $120 barrel of oil that we
import. It may cost $120 but by the time we
get it here, add on
the cost of transporting it, refining it and
delivering to your local filling station,
then tack on the federal
and local taxes and you can easily
understand why you are paying almost $4.00 a
gallon.
It is a known fact, that there is enough
oil in ANWR alone to supply us for 250
years. Our illustrious
leaders refuse to allow us to drill in the
Gulf, but China is about to erect an oil
platform 50 miles off the
coast of Florida. Do you believe that we can
erect an oil platform much more
environmentally safer than
China? We have tremendous amounts of coal
reserves. During WW II, Germany was
converting coal into
clean burning fuel through a process known
as the Fischer-Tropsch process (Coal
Gasification). There is
also untapped regions of shale oil that we
can gather from Colorado shale. It has been
estimated that we
can gather all the oil we need from all
these sources at an average cost of about
$23 a barrel.
Furthermore, we have not built a refinery in
the U.S. in over thirty-years. What are we
waiting for?
The second reason is the U.S. dollar is
at an all time low. If the dollar is to
rally, the European Central
Bank must reduce their interest rate. That
will not happen until the price of the
world's commodities start
to decline. If we start drilling, the price
of oil will drop dramatically. The price of
Gold, Silver, Copper and
all the other commodities will follow.
Europe will be forced to reduce their
interest rate and the dollar will
rally. As an aside, think of all the jobs
that we will create by drilling.
Third, we can then supply oil to China
and India at a much cheaper price than they
can buy it from the
Saudis. If the Saudis undercut our price we
tell China they must buy it from us or we
reevaluate our free
trade policies. They need us more to buy
their goods than we need them. I know you
are probably
thinking that they will retaliate by not
buying our Treasury notes. They are buying
them with our money.
The money we use to buy their goods is sent
right back here to buy those notes. If we
drill our own oil,
we can become the oil barons of the world.
We will not need them to buy our treasury
notes. If you think
that is conjecture, the proof is in the fact
that the Saudis do not borrow. They only
have one resource.
At the same time, we have to start
developing alternate energy sources. Talking
about "Wind Thermal
Generators" and Nuclear power plants does
not get the job done. Start building them,
not tomorrow,
NOW! All we do is come up with "Cafe
Standards" that won't take place for
ten-years or develop
hydrogen engines for cars. How much will we
spend on developing the fuel for these
vehicles?
FYI, hydrogen cars emit water vapors from
their exhaust systems not Carbon Monoxide.
Picture millions
of hydrogen cars humming along the roads of
our northern states in the middle of winter
spraying water
behind them; laying down a ribbon of
Black-Ice. Who dreams up these cars?
Nevertheless, we have Ethanol the new
Methadone for oil addiction. Here are the
facts:
Corn is a mainstay of American
agriculture -- it is an important ingredient
in cereals and bakery goods.
Corn syrup is used to make processed foods
like candy, and soft drinks. More
importantly, it is the
major source of food for cattle, pigs,
turkeys and other animals that are destined
for our dinner tables.
David Pimental, a leading Cornell
University agricultural expert, has
calculated "that powering the average
automobile for one year on ethanol (blended
with gasoline) derived from corn would
require eleven acres
of farmland, the same space needed to grow a
year's supply of food for seven people."
If all the automobiles in the U.S. were
fueled with 100% percent ethanol, about 97%
of the U.S. land
areas would be needed to grow the necessary
corn. Corn would cover nearly the entire
land area of the
U.S.
It takes one gallon of oil to run the
equipment that is needed to produce one
gallon of ethanol.
It costs about $1.74 per gallon to
produce ethanol, compared with about 95
cents to produce one gallon
of gasoline.
On the environmental side corn production
erodes soil about 12 times faster than the
natural recharge
rate of ground water.
The approximately $1 billion a year in
current federal and state subsidies for
ethanol production are not
the only cost to taxpayers. Subsidized corn
results in higher prices for meat, milk and
eggs because
about 70 percent of corn grain is fed to
livestock and poultry in the United States.
Increasing ethanol
production would further inflate corn
prices. This in turn would significantly
raise food prices in the
marketplace.
Maybe you should just smack yourselves on
the head and say, "I should have had a V-8."
Wake up
America before it is too late. If this
doesn't get you out of your chairs to call
your Senators and
Congressional Representatives nothing will.
It may only be a matter of time before
the worldwide food shortage hits the movie
theaters. It may not be
funny when your favorite theater starts
rationing your favorite movie snack.
Two tickets to the movies; $16, one large
soda with two straws; $4.00, one tub of
popcorn; priceless, if
you can get it.
And, that is my opinion.
Michael Solomon
If you want to
help restore sanity to America, join the
Flag Day campaign.
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