Nobody is more reactionary than liberals. Just as the hysteria over global warming is reactionary, so is the rush to ethanol production. Liberals see something that frightens them, and they start running around screaaming that we have to do something about it. They’re so caught up in their panic that they don’t have time to think; they only have time to react. What could be more “reactionary” than that?
Here’s how the liberal mind works. Fossil fuels and nukes are icky. Wind, water, sunshine, and plants are clean and friendly. So all we have to do is stop using icky fuels and use friendly fuels instead, and Gaia will love and nurture us and global warming will go away. So they harangue the government into providing incentives to switch from icky fuels to friendly fuels. (Of course it costs the taxpayers lots of money, but that’s OK. That’s what taxpayers are for.)
Only then it turns out the hydro-electirc dams disturb the fishies, so they demand the dams be removed (also at great expense to the taxpayers). Then they figuure out the windmills are slicing and dicing birdies, so they protest to have the windfarms shut down. They love the idea of getting fuel from plants (that’s so green), only it turns out ethanol production isn’t very energy efficient after all and, besides that, it’s threatening the environment and starving children! It won’t be long before the liberals demand that the government step in and stop this evil ethanol production… Just wait and see.
I posted a blog entry on this called Alternative Energy and the Law of Unintended Consequences.
