Tag: gas

Big oil… but what about Big Ag?

Gas prices have actually started to drop – ever so slightly in our neck of the woods. I doubt it will continue much more.

Now that more and more folks are turning to public transportation when and where they can and reducing their consumption of oil intake — the powers that be realize they can getaway with $4 gas – but probably not much more…. for now.

But as gas prices have risen – so has the price of food – and yet no one’s made much of a stink about “big ag.” Could it be because everyone’s too busy making a fuss about “big oil?” Or is it because big ag keeps pointing the finger at big oil?

Either way, Herrick Kimball, the Deliberate Agrarian, seems to think big ag’s profits are a greater concern.

Personally I am far more concerned with the huge profits currently being made by big agricultural industries (BigAg) than I am with BigOil. Food is an absolute necessity for every human on earth. Oil is not.

Food production and distribution is, of course, intertwined with fossil fuels, but not inextricably, Believe it or not, civilization can (and will) survive without an overabundance of crude oil. We have around six thousand years of pre-oil human history to prove that. People are resourceful. They can adapt to such changes. At least some can.

But food is another story. There are currently millions of people in the world facing significant hardship, malnutrition, and even starvation over this matter of food. Why? Because they and their countries are dependent on BigAg’s food, the cost of which is rising at alarming rates. And all the while, the BigAg corporations are making record profits.

I tend to agree. What about you? Be sure and read the rest of his post.

Related ::
DART – Dallas Area Rapid Transit
DART’s Chairman Report May 08
The Deliberate Agrarian :: Big Ag…Big Profits…Big Problems
SSL :: simply living simple
SSL :: simply living simple pt 2

‘Zen Driving’ and other pointers to save gas

From NPR:

Oil company Exxon-Mobil released their first quarter earnings report Thursday, showing steep profits amid soaring costs. With gas prices hovering around $4-a-gallon, we ask our listeners for their money-saving tips. (link) Then we do some fact-checking with Jon Linkov, managing editor of autos at Consumer Reports. Filling up in the morning will only help you save one tenth of one percent, he says, so focus on more significant gas-savers, like the following:

1.) Check your tire pressure once a week.

2.) Keep your car well-maintained.

3.) Don’t carry extra weight in the trunk.

4.) If you are in really bad bumper-to-bumper traffic, turn the car off.

5.) Once you really break 55 mph, you are hurting your fuel economy, so try to slow down.

Biofuels make for increased beer prices

German Beers | Photo by starscream

Say it ain’t so?!

According to Treehugger, German subsidies for biofuel crops are decreasing the supply of crops like barley and hops, which naturally increases the price of the crops used in beer, which in turn increases the price of German beer.

In Germany, recent subsidies for biofuel crops have had an effect of the price of a dietary staple: beer. According to the Associated Press, many German farmers are now growing crops like rapeseed and corn rather than barley, and that shift is being felt at the tap…

From the AP:

In the last two years, the price of barley has doubled to euro200 (US$271) from euro102 per ton as farmers plant more crops such as rapeseed and corn that can be turned into ethanol or bio-diesel, a fuel made from vegetable oil.

As a result, the price for the key ingredient in beer — barley malt, or barley that has been allowed to germinate — has soared by more than 40 percent, to around euro385 (US$522) per ton from around euro270 a ton two years ago, according to the Bavarian Brewers’ Association.

For Germany’s beer drinkers that is scary news: their beloved beverage — often dubbed ‘liquid bread’ because it is a basic ingredient of many Germans’ daily diet — is getting more expensive. While some breweries have already raised prices, many others will follow later this year, brewers say.

(Photo by Starscream)