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As I've said many times despite the fact that my father, my grandfather and my father in law are all corn farmers what is good for them is not necessarily good for the country.
Corn production and ethanol production are up sharply here in Nebraska and while that is good for my family it doesn't address the problem that ethanol is supposed to solve. That is, getting America off of oil. The solution to this problem in my opinion is actually threefold. But, it's going to hurt and the voters don't like that.
1. Reduce consumption of oil. This is an 'easy' fix. Raise the MPG requirements. STOP selling SUV's and light trucks to every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane. Last year, according to ABC Americans bought more SUV's and light trucks than in any previous year. It's INSANE. Improve public transportation. Build more wind farms. Stop making incandescent light bulbs. Mandate more efficient appliances and homes. Reduce, reduce, reduce.
cont:
I heard about the Nebraska version of the Hells Angels.
A couple of old farmers are sitting on the backs of a couple of really huge hogs, and there are chickens out in front of them. One of them looks at the other, "I heard them fellers saying riding hogs and chasing chicks was fun, but this ain't much fun. In fact it stinks!"
Most of the Nebraskans I met were good hard working people. My uncles used to raise corn and hay.
..and my apology to any Nebraskan offended by that. An uncle of mine gave that to me and he was from Nebraska. But he never owned a motorcyle, but in the 50's made a fortune on hogs. He said he had had about 50,000 of them. Everywhere he looked there were hogs, all his fields were planted in corn to feed them, and he had bought them at like 3 cents a pound and then sold them for 60 cents. It paid off his loan to the bank in one year, but he said he could never buy another hog. The farm he said stunk for years...and his wife told him if she ever saw another one he would be in the hogpen with them!
I can see where a farmer, a cattleman, or a construction worker needs a large 4x4 or SUV just to do their jobs, but some I've seen....hey, those are yuppies just trying to impress their neighbors, and they don't know how to drive them. More than one accident and rollover were caused by them. Just because you have a 4x4 doesn't mean you can stop any faster...
In Sudbury, Massachusetts, it's quite a status symbol to have a Range Rover or other SUV "off road" style monster, and it's only complete with the metal brush guards on the lights.
But these people wouldn't even drive on the soft shoulder to get around a turning car, let alone have some brush rub against their paint.
Then they drive from the wild suburb on the highway to their urban jobs.
But if you told them they don't need it....
"STOP selling SUV's and light trucks to every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane."
Tell the auto companies to make an attractive, high MPG car with cargo space and towing capacity...it'd probably be easier to do after you create world peace and perfect cold fusion...