Re:U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline
by akomtu on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @11:58AM
(#30349124)
That's the Civil War argument: "we know that slavery is wrong, but we can't just end it because livelihood of millions of good upstanding citizens depends on slavery." And just like slavery, the corn syrup industry exists solely because of a law protecting it.
Re:U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline
by csee on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @11:26AM
(#30348604)
Industries and business absolutely have to be allowed to die if they are no longer necessary and desired by the market. If not, you're just kicking the can down the road. Give them a UBI if you are so concerned. Don't prop up zombie industries.
Re:U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline
by ramesh31 on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @03:09PM
(#30351946)
>Industries and business absolutely have to be allowed to die if they are no longer necessary and desired by the market.
The defense industry would like to have a word with you. There are certain industries that the government props up solely to maintain the capability in times of crisis. I would argue that ensuring an adequate capacity to generate a self sufficient food supply is important enough to meet that bar.
Re:U.S. corn-based ethanol worse for the climate than gasoline
by csee on Tuesday February 15, 2022 @11:48PM
(#30356471)
Defence is necessary so it isn't a refutation of what I was saying.
Also, there is no way the US subsidies of food and billion pounds of cheese in cold storage etc etc have anything to do with a defence justification, it is pure corruption and zombie subsidies top to bottom.
For you, maybe. Not for the millions of rural Americans whose livelihood depends on agriculture subsidies. There's a reason why we have the Senate, a place where Nebraska has the same power as California. It's exactly for situations like this. The US is a massive country full of competing interests, and our founders knew that eventually the urban population would massively outnumber the rural population, leading to a tyranny through rule of the majority. So states were put on equal footing in the Senate to give the rural populations a voice. And because of that, the Senate will never ever allow these subsidies to be cut. There's simply too much support for it among the rural states.