Drought can’t be helped, but ask an agronomist about corn’s toll on underground water tables. Lawsuits are being filed over this as corn crops deplete aquifers.

Market speculation is a very broad term. But look at all the folks jumping in with both feet in the ethanol boondoggle. Why? Because of the subsidies and other government incentives. It’s artificial. Let ethanol compete on its own merits and you’d thin that herd VERY quickly.

A weak US dollar may directly influence the cost of domestic goods, but I’m on my lunch break and can’t delve into that connection. But I’d have to say that it’s more of a factor on imported goods. Oh, wait…we’re a net importer of food now!

Subsidies. The bane of our republic. Why are we subsidizing American corn-based ethanol while taxing the snot out of imported ethanol? Is it because our ethanol is so great? No, it’s to make someone rich and keep the competition out. In the mean time the food market is along for the ride.

Trade barriers? Such as the high tariff we place on South American ethanol? If ethanol is the answer, why not let it in for free? Heck, if it’s going to save the planet, perhaps we should subsidize that too!

The fact of the matter is that the government is meddling around with the world’s food and energy systems simply for two reasons: profit and an environmentalist hoax. Simply saying “it ain’t so” doesn’t change the fact that many signs point to ethanol’s ripple effects across the globe. You can’t upheave the food system of the world’s (former) largest exporter of food crops and not expect it to hurt worldwide. Like it or not, when the USA sneezes the whole world catches a cold.