Despite the fact that Jesse Duke powered his old farm truck on ethanol (ethyl alcohol) back in the 80’s, ethanol has joined the ranks of global warming (formerly known as climate change) and hemp vs. cotton in the closet of “don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain” liberal blundering.
[dropcap2]E[/dropcap2]thyl alcohol, at its simplest level, is an alcohol obtained from the fermentation of sugars and plant stuff by chemical synthesis. But now the word “ethanol” is synonymous with corn ethanol, or “ridiculous government blunder” to many and “farm subsidy” to others. When will all these lever-pulling do-gooders learn that regular people hate pushy activists bent on making the world a better place through insult, fear and inconvenience?
Are most of us ignorant of the effects of our destructive behavior? And keep on living as such despite our inevitable doom? Well sure. If we knew about the effects we would start considering to begin getting around to doing something about it. But that’s no reason for our moral betters to rub our noses in it.
I understand that it is easier for smart people to say something like “stop burning petroleum now or your children’s faces will melt in a superheated atmosphere like the evil Nazis did in “The Raiders of the Lost Ark,” than it is for them to explain the uncertain realities of adding particulate matter into the environment. But when our faces don’t melt quite so sensationally, we stop paying attention to smart people. The reality is that smart people are often some of the dumbest. (It’s true. I’m dumbest all the time.)
Some of the hype behind corn ethanol originated from corn lobbyists and senators from corn-heavy states, but the rest of it was generated by ethanol supporters too stupid to realize that when the public discovered that creating ethanol from one of the world’s largest food staples extended pretty far into the realm of stupidity they would be pissed.
Now that cellulosic ethanol (a much cleaner burning ethyl alcohol created from stuff like grass clippings and organic waste) is gaining traction in the form of larger scheduled plant openings, most people could give a flip. Corn ethanol was a big, fat fart. Why should cellulosic ethanol (which I can’t even pronounce without sounding stupid) be any different?[divider]
Thank you all you stupid smart people, for ruining another revolutionary technological advance by heralding false intermediaries and ridiculous facsimiles. Sheesh.