And the BioFool of the year is...

[ProudDad]

"Happy Biofools Day! With more than 6,000 votes cast, this year's contest was a great success, and now the results are in!

"With 2,424 votes -- more than the total number cast last year -- the 2011 Biofool of the Year is Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack! There’s no doubt he deserves it; with Secretary Vilsack at the helm, the USDA has doubled down on its support for corn ethanol and biofuels."

http://www.foe.org/

"Change" you can bereave about...

[Agent William]

1. Ok, this whole lumping of all biofuels into one great big boogie man

Has got to stop. Yes, with out a doubt the overwhelming amount of funds for ethanol goes to large corporate farms, buts let's not take a dump on all biofuels just because those who support it are flawed. Corn ethanol is inefficient, that's a given. It takes a great deal more energy to produce corn ethanol that one gets put of it in a car engine. However, biodiesel is extremely productive. It is possible to get ~40% more energy out a a gallon of biodiesel than goes into growing and producing it. And that's with existing technology. I predict that with proper genetic engineering both ethanol (not from corn) and biodiesel will become very profitable and sustainable in years to come. So I reject your claim at all biofuels are flawed. What, am I supposed to power my car with a windmill or a solar panel? Yeah, I don't think so.

The fact of the matter is, if all the resources and energy that went into production of ethanol went into the production of biodiesel, the current yield of US produced renewable energy would be far greater. I'm guessing that corporate farms can make more money leaching off the government with ethanol, hence we see less biodiesel.

It's a broken system....

[ProudDad]

2. Recyling oils into biodiesel is a good "bridging technology" for the short term

But growing food for fuel to power a bunch of individual vehicles is as insane as drilling for oil or fracking for "natural gas" to do the same...

The problem is more systemic than the fuel that's powering it...

We must conserve, power-down, promote a better quality of life not a bigger, shinier "standard of living"!

Vilsack is DEFINITELY an important cog in the machine...and deserves condemnation for his "efforts"...