Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Is it Hot in Here or Is it Just Me?

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Good question, Ernie. It seems like we Americans are divided on so many issues these days. You've got your Mac loyalists and your PC people. You've got those who love crocs and those who hate crocs. (which if you ask me, that blogger just doesn't get it. they're not supposed to be worn for fashion!) You've got red states and blue states even though we really are just one big purple country. There's them what love American Idol and there's them that don't. And it goes on and on and on.

Tonight, talk radio show host Glenn Beck will air a special on his tv show on CNN's Headline news channel. He'll be discussing the global warming debate; specifically how it has become a one-sided dogmatic belief. Before long, this will be Al Gore's campaign motto.

I urge all who can to watch this show tonight. There's no doubt there is some sort of climate change happening-but the cause isn't completely understood. As it should be with any topic, I believe it's important to do my own research and consider all the evidence before I form an opinion.

This year you will see how environmental awareness will effect our economy. With the rise in funding for new ethanol manufacturing plants comes the rise in demand for corn crops. This year we will have the largest increase in corn crop acreage in the last 60 years. Because so much land is being used to plant corn that means there is fewer land available for produce contracts, primarily vegetables. We'll see some supply problems and price increases as the year progresses as well as an increase in imported vegetables. Since the government offers subsidies for corn and soy bean growers, the farmers are looking at a guaranteed income amount in case of a drought, flood, cold snap, or other weather or pest related events. As a result the price of corn has begun to rise steadily also. This has a ripple effect reaching out to beef cattle, milk farms, and poultry farms. Chicken prices have been up the last 2 months and there's evidence that trend will continue for at least 3 more months.


If we're going to decide to finally do something to help preserve our environment and change the way we function, we're going to have to be willing to accept the economic consequences.

Remember, we all can do our part.