Ethanol From Corn is Good(Neg) Matt Hamilton, Eveready

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Ethanol From Corn Is Good(Neg)

1. INHERENCY
1.1 Corn-Based Ethanol Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions
1.2 Research on Corn-Based Ethanol Was One-Sided
1.3 Largest U.S. Hog Producer Affected by Rising Food Costs
1.4 Largest U.S. Meat Company Affect by Rising Food Costs
1.5 Corn-Based Ethanol Always Increases Emissions
1.6 Corn-Based Ethanol Emits More
1.7 Corn-Based Ethanol Barely Slows Global Warming
1.8 Cotton and Soybean Crops Replaced by Corn
1.9 Corn-Based Ethanol Loses Nitrogen
1.10 The Corn Ethanol Industry is Failing
1.11 Much Higher Food Costs in the years to Come

2. SIGNIFICANCE
2.1 Corn Ethanol Only Gives Back 25% of the Energy it Takes to Make

3. SOLVENCY
3.1 Myth: Corn-Based Will Lead to Energy Independence
3.2 Myth: Corn-Based Ethanol Reduces Cost of Gasoline
3.3 Corn Made Ethanol Costs More Than Gas
3.4 Over-Plowing Releases Once Stored Carbon
3.5 Fertilizer Costs Play a Significant Role in Production
3.6 Corn-Based Ethanol Takes Food Out of the Mouths of the Poor
3.7 Our population is Growing and Children Are Dying

4. CREDENTIALS

1. INHERENCY

1.1 Corn-Based Ethanol Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Study: Ethanol may add to global warming, By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer, USA Today,
February 8, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-02-08-ethanol-
study_N.htm

WASHINGTON — The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the
greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes,
researchers concluded Thursday.
"Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming," concludes the

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study published in Science magazine.

1.2 Research on Corn-Based Ethanol Was One-Sided

Study: Ethanol may add to global warming, By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer, USA Today,
February 8, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-02-08-ethanol-
study_N.htm

The study released Thursday by researchers affiliated with Princeton University and a number of other
institutions maintains that these analyses "were one-sided" and counted the carbon benefits of using
land for biofuels but not the carbon costs of diverting land from its existing uses.

1.3 Largest U.S. Hog Producer Affected by Rising Food Costs

Ethanol Demand in U.S. Adds to Food, Fertilizer Costs, Alan Bjerga, Bloomberg.com, February 21,
2008, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUIPybKj4IGs

Smithfield Foods Inc., the largest U.S. hog producer, said Feb. 19 it will cut output by as much as 1
million animals a year, or 5 percent, because feed costs are too high. The company is based in
Smithfield, Virginia.

1.4 Largest U.S. Meat Company Affect by Rising Food Costs

Ethanol Demand in U.S. Adds to Food, Fertilizer Costs, Alan Bjerga, Bloomberg.com, February 21,
2008, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUIPybKj4IGs [Brackets added]

Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meat company, forecast an increase in grain costs this year of more
than $500 million. Springdale, Arkansas[Ar-can-saw-]based Tyson also reported a 40 percent drop in
first-quarter profit and said it will close a beef plant in Kansas, firing 1,800 workers.
Ethanol ``has caused a domino effect,'' CEO Richard L. Bond said in a statement Jan. 28. ``For the
foreseeable future, consumers will pay more and more for food.''

1.5 Corn-Based Ethanol Always Increases Emissions

Corn Ethanol Will Not Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Matthew Cimitile, Scientific American, April
20, 2009, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ethanol-not-cut-emissions

California regulators, trying to assess the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, are poised to declare
that the biofuel cannot help the state reduce global warming.
As they see it, corn is no better – and might be worse – than petroleum when total greenhouse gas
emissions are considered.
Such a declaration, to be considered later this week by the California Air Resources Board, would be a
considerable blow to the corn-ethanol industry in the United States.

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1.6 Corn-Based Ethanol Emits More

Biofuels Are Bad for Feeding People and Combating Climate Change, David Biello, Scientific
American,February 7, 2008, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biofuels-bad-for-
people-and-climate

"Prior analysis made an accounting error," says one study's lead author, Tim Searchinger, an
agricultural expert at Princeton University. "There is a huge imbalance between the carbon lost by
plowing up a hectare [2.47 acres] of forest or grassland from the benefit you get from biofuels."

1.7 Corn-Based Ethanol Barely Slows Global Warming

Biofuels Are Bad for Feeding People and Combating Climate Change, David Biello, Scientific
American,February 7, 2008, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biofuels-bad-for-
people-and-climate

Converting corn to ethanol in Iowa not only leads to clearing more of the Amazonian rainforest
researchers report in a pair of new studies in Science, but also would do little to slow global warming—
and often make it worse.

1.8 Cotton and Soybean Crops Replaced by Corn

Ethanol Comes Under Fire for Rising Food Prices, Bonner R. Cohen, The Heartland Institute, July 1,
2008,http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/23392/Ethanol_Comes_Under_Fire_for_Rising_Food
_Prices.html

But the rush to convert cropland from food to fuel was soon felt in supermarkets across the United
States. "By the end of the 2006/7 crop year, over 2 billion bushels of corn (19 percent of the harvested
crop) were used to produce ethanol," the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported earlier this
year. "Higher corn prices motivated farmers to increase corn acreage at the expense of other crops, such
as soybeans and cotton, raising their prices as well."

1.9 Corn-Based Ethanol Loses Nitrogen

How Corn Ethanol Could Pollute the Bay, The Washington Post, August 26, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082401427.html

Corn is a "leaky" crop, losing more nitrogen per acre than most other crops. In the Washington region,
much of this excess nitrogen ends up polluting the Chesapeake Bay and robbing fish, crabs and oysters
of oxygen.
Regional officials are already struggling to reduce nitrogen loads by 100 million pounds. This
additional load could set back regional water quality efforts by three to five years. This thirst for grain-

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based ethanol will add to the woes of our weakened ecosystems. Three strategies, however, could
reduce and perhaps reverse the damage:

1.10 The Corn Ethanol Industry is Failing

Controversies Continue to Swirl over Corn Ethanol, by John Carey, BusinessWeek, April 16, 2009,
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_17/b4128038023092.htm

Progress is being made on next-generation biofuels, but for the traditional corn ethanol industry, times
are tough. Industry's facilities are 20% idle, taking 2 billion gallons a year worth of capacity off line.
Bankruptcies are up. The biggest bankrupt producer, VeraSun Energy(VSUQ), was forced to sell seven
of its plants, which were bought by oil refining giant Valero Energy(VLO) at bargain prices. "It's
frustrating," says Rodney M. Weinzierl, executive director of the Illinois Corn Growers Assn. "The
impact on the rural economy is tremendous."

1.11 Much Higher Food Costs in the years to Come

Ethanol Loses Ground at U.N. Climate Conference: Congress Should Rethink Energy Bill Mandate,
Nicolas Loris, Heritage Foundation, and Alison Acosta Fraser, Director of the Roe Institute for
Economic Policy Studies, December 17, 2007,
http://www.heritage.org/research/energyandenvironment/wm1750.cfm

Despite the increased production, the corn producers are directing their supply of corn away from other
industries, particularly food. At the supermarket, consumers have noticed skyrocketing prices for beef,
poultry, and dairy products. Prices have also increased for soda and many other products containing
corn syrup. As a result of the mandate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that the upward
pressure on the food prices will continue for years to come

2. SIGNIFICANCE

2.1 Corn Ethanol Only Gives Back 25% of the Energy it Takes to Make
Farming for Ethanol Would Have Serious Consequences for Forests, Food Production, Dennis Avery,
The Heartland Institute, July 2006, http://www.heartland.org/publications/environment
%20climate/article/19333/Farming_for_Ethanol_Would_Have_Serious_Consequences_for_Forests_Fo
od_Production.html

The move to ethanol means we must shift more of our increasingly scarce prime farmland to fuel crops
when global food and feed demand are rising at least as rapidly as crop yields. This is a particularly
acute concern given that the net energy gain from corn-based ethanol over the corn's fuel and fertilizer
requirements is only about 25 percent.

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3. SOLVENCY

3.1 Myth: Corn-Based Will Lead to Energy Independence

Ethanol Makes Gasoline Costlier, Dirtier, by Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren, Cato Institute,
January 27, 2007, http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=7308

For corn ethanol to completely displace gasoline consumption in this country, we would need to
appropriate all U.S. cropland, turn it completely over to corn-ethanol production, and then find 20
percent more land for cultivation on top of that.

3.2 Myth: Corn-Based Ethanol Reduces Cost of Gasoline

Ethanol Makes Gasoline Costlier, Dirtier, by Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren, Cato Institute,
January 27, 2007, http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=7308

If you lived in California and other areas that used reformulated gasoline last summer – that's the
environmentally "clean" gasoline required for areas with air pollution problems, and that's where most
of that ethanol went – you might have paid up to 60 cents a gallon more for gasoline than you would
have otherwise.

3.3 Corn Made Ethanol Costs More Than Gas

Ethanol Makes Gasoline Costlier, Dirtier, by Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren, Cato Institute,
January 27, 2007, http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=7308

According to a 2005 report issued by the Agriculture Department, corn ethanol costs an average of
$2.53 to produce, or several times what it costs to produce a gallon of gasoline.

3.4 Over-Plowing Releases Once Stored Carbon

Study: Ethanol may add to global warming, By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer, USA Today,
February 8, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-02-08-ethanol-
study_N.htm

The researchers said that farmers under economic pressure to produce biofuels will increasingly "plow
up more forest or grasslands," releasing much of the carbon formerly stored in plants and soils through
decomposition or fires. Globally, more grasslands and forests will be converted to growing the crops to
replace the loss of grains when U.S. farmers convert land to biofuels, the study said.

3.5 Fertilizer Costs Play a Significant Role in Production

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Growth in Biofuels Catches Congress's Attention, William L. Kovacs, The Heartland Institute,
November 2006, http://www.heartland.org/publications/environment
%20climate/article/20074/Growth_in_Biofuels_Catches_Congresss_Attention.html

The impact of fertilizer supplies on ethanol production could also become an issue of increasing
concern, as fertilizer shortages and rising fertilizer costs could push up crop production costs. If
commodity speculators in the agricultural sector enter the fray, this too could become an influential
factor.

3.6 Corn-Based Ethanol Takes Food Out of the Mouths of the Poor
Biofuels Are Bad for Feeding People and Combating Climate Change, David Biello, Scientific
American,February 7, 2008, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=biofuels-bad-for-
people-and-climate

Turning food into fuel also has the unintended consequence of driving up food prices, reducing the
access of the neediest populations to grains and meat. "It's equivalent to saying we will try to reduce
greenhouse gases by reducing food consumption," Searchinger says. "Unfortunately, a lot of that comes
from the world's poorest people."
"We are converting their food into our fuel," Tilman notes. " The typical driver of an SUV spends as
much on fuel in a month as the poorer third of the world spend on food."

3.7 Our population is Growing and Children Are Dying

James Jordan and James Powell, The False Hope of Biofuels, Washington Post, July 2, 2006,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063001480.html

Finally, considering projected population growth in the United States and the world, the humanitarian
policy would be to maintain cropland for growing food -- not fuel. Every day more than 16,000
children die from hunger-related causes -- one child every five seconds. The situation will only get
worse. It would be morally wrong to divert cropland needed for human food supply to powering
automobiles. It would also deplete soil fertility and the long-term capability to maintain food
production. We would destroy the farmland that our grandchildren and their grandchildren will need to
live.

4. CREDENTIALS:
-The mission of The Heartland Institute is to discover and promote free-market solutions to social
and economic problems. Such solutions include parental choice in education, market-based approaches
to environmental protection, privatization of public services, and deregulation in areas where property
rights and markets do a better job than government bureaucracies.
Among the hundreds of "think tanks" in the United States, The Heartland Institute is unique in the
following ways:

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• We focus on ideas that empower people to solve social and economic problems by expanding
consumer choices in such areas as education, health care, and telecommunications.
• Our primary audiences are the nation’s 8,300 state and national elected officials and
approximately 8,400 local government officials.
• 85 percent of state legislators and 63 percent of municipal officials report reading at least one
Heartland publication. Nearly half of state elected officials say a Heartland publication
influenced their opinions or led to a change in public policy. (Telephone survey conducted in
2007 by Victory Enterprises.)
• We produce five monthly public policy newspapers featuring the latest news and commentary
on school reeform, environmental regulation, health care reform, budget and tax issues, and
telecommunications regulation.
• Our Web site is the clearinghouse for the work of 350 other think tanks and advocacy groups.
featuring the latest news and commentary on school reform, environmental regulation, health
care reform, budget and tax issues, and telecommunications regulation. and approximately
8,400 local government officials.

-John Carey, senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau, has covered science,
technology, medicine, health, and the environment for BW since 1989. Prior to BusinessWeek, Carey
was an editor of The Scientist and a writer and editor for National & International Wildlife magazines.
He spent six years at Newsweek. He has won awards from the Deadline Club, the American Institute of
Biological Sciences, the Overseas Press Club, and the Aviation & Space Writers Assn.

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