Farm bill would allow continued subsidies for millionaires

The House and Senate farm bills would allow millionaire landowners to continue to cash big government subsidy checks despite language in the proposals intended to cut off crop subsidies for the wealthy, according to a new analysis of tax data by GOP Senate aides.

Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) yesterday released the analysis, which is based on data from the Internal Revenue Service and Congressional Budget Office. It estimates that under the proposed new farm bills, hundreds of millions of dollars in crop subsidies would continue to go out to landowners whose overall adjusted gross income for the year exceeds $1 million.

“The House and Senate farm bills left loopholes that a 9630 John Deere tractor could drive through. It was reform in name only. Now I hope we can move to legislation that includes real reform,” Grassley said.

Grassley is a member of the conference committee charged with hammering out an agreement on the House and Senate farm bills. The Senate’s version of the farm bill, approved in December, would stop payments to non-farmers who make more than $750,000 a year but has no income caps for farmers. The House bill would cut off farm payments for millionaire farmers or non-farmers who make more than $500,000.

The Bush administration is pushing for a much lower cap of $200,000 in adjusted gross income. White House officials have threatened to veto the bill if it does not include more reform.

Other members of the conference committee said yesterday that income limits will be a major topic of negotiation for the farm bill, but the panel is unlikely to go as far as Grassley or the administration has suggested.

“The White House is insisting on it so the prospects of additional reform are probably pretty good in the conference,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “But it is not going to be what the administration is calling for.”

Conrad said the $200,000 income cap is “not in synch” with the high costs of farming, as fertilizer and other prices have almost doubled.

Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said the income limits are the “big sticking point right now” that members “have to work out.”

Harkin said the proposal from Grassley and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) — which would have placed a hard cap on how much any farmer can receive in federal subsidies rather than basing the limits on income — has already had its chance in the Senate and is unlikely to be included in the conference. The Grassley-Dorgan amendment failed in a 56-43 vote during the farm bill debate. It needed 60 votes for passage.

In 2006, the Agriculture Department paid more than $230 million to landlords and farm operators who exceeded the House income cap and $137 million to those exceeding the Senate cut-off. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 83 percent of those funds would continue to go out under the House bill, and 95 percent would continue to be paid under the Senate bill.

Grassley said the continued payouts would be possible because landowners could switch the way they collect rent from the people farming their land, so their tenants could continue to receive the commodity payments. High-income farmers could also buy more land to bring their adjusted gross income level down or divide the payments among other family members.

Grassley based the analysis on data he requested from IRS on how many recipients of farm payments have an income above the cap and whether or not they were landlords.

A coalition of environmental, religious, sustainable farming and taxpayer groups have advocated for lowering the income level or including the payment cap in the new farm bill. They say the current payments unfairly favor large industrialized agriculture. The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition suggested applying the lower income cap to the land, rather than the landlord or producer.

“No one on the farm bill conference committee should suffer under any illusions that taking action on an AGI limit is, by itself, doing anything very significant for payment reform,” Sustainable Agriculture Coalition director Ferd Hoefner said yesterday of the analysis.

the source

Bio-fuel Expert and Ethanol ‘God-Father’ to Speak at Renewable Energy Conferences and Seminars

The International Institute for Sustainable Agriculture announced today that its founder and current Executive Director, David Blume has been asked to appear on radio, TV, and as a lead speaker for a number of renewable energy symposiums in the coming two months. Blume is globally acknowledged as the “god-father” of ethanol and is a leading advocate and expert on renewable solutions to the global need for inexpensive, non- polluting, and sustainable energy and food sources.

Blume’s coming talks provide unrivaled insight into the practicality of transforming US energy production and use to a totally sustainable model. Blume presents myth-busting facts, scientific data, and proven methodologies that give audiences a revolutionary first-person look at truly sustainable solutions to global warming, GreenHouse Gas emissions, food resource issues as well as provide them with a road-map to a new post-oil economy.

As part of his coming in-person appearances, Blume will be a featured guest on the Thom Hartmann Radio Program. Now in its fifth year of national syndication and heard globally on XM and Sirius satellite radio, Hartmann’s program is carried in 7 of the nation’s top 10 media markets and 14 of the top 25 markets. Hartmann is also a featured commentator in the new Leonardo DiCaprio environmental documentary The 11th Hour.

Hartmann calls Blume’s work “brilliant!” and his soon to be released book “Alcohol Can Be A Gas,” “a must read for every American.” Blume has spent years battling with big oil interests and has dedicated his life to providing a practical and truly renewable solution to the world’s quest for inexpensive, non-polluting and sustainable energy and food sources.

Larry Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of the American Corn Growers Association recently said, “I have personally worked in the renewable energy sector in one form or another for close to four decades and I recommend David Blume’s “Alcohol Can Be a Gas” as the most comprehensive and understandable book on renewable fuels I have ever read on the subject.”

Blume’s renewable energy talks address the current oligarchy misinformation campaign and misstated concepts including:

Myth: Food vs. Fuel – Does ethanol demand compete with food production?

Fact: Only 5 % of all US farmland is used for growing corn and only 28% of the crop’s starch is used for fuel production leaving all the protein and fat as a higher quality animal feed than the original corn. Ethanol demand required an additional 11.3 million acres of corn this year to avoid affecting the food supply but farmers grew 14.6 million acres.

Contrary to widely reported stories in the press ethanol demand has had NO EFFECT on the price of corn or availability for human or animal food. In fact there will be a massive surplus of corn this year. Increased corn and food prices are due to higher petroleum costs for transportation, fossil fuel based fertilizer and processing energy.

Myth: Alcohol Can’t Run Our Cars — It would be too expensive to retool all the cars on the road to run on an alcohol fuel mix

Fact: Any and all fuel injected cars (the predominant engine produced since 1980) can run on a 50% blend of alcohol and gas with no modification (and most newer cars will run on an 85-100% alcohol with inexpensive modifications)

Myth: It would be too expensive to ramp up industry to produce ethanol/alcohol

Fact: The US has spent $500 billion (USD) on the Iraq war as of this year, 500 billion gallons per year is the total global fuel consumption, and $500 billion (USD) would build a global, renewable, greenhouse effect reversing, ethanol fuel industry that would replace all gasoline and diesel fuel planet-wide permanently.

Blume was recently a featured speaker at the Mid-West Renewable Energy Fair in Wisconsin, and SolFest in Hopland, CA. His coming appearances include a featured guest appearance on Thom Hartmann’s Air America Program in October, Santa Cruz Community TV’s EcoReview September 25, speaking at Portland State University October 6, at the Peak Oil sponsored forum in Salem, OR, October 7, at the Retzer Nature Center near Milwaukee, WI, on Oct. 20, at the University of Illinois Chicago campus on Oct. 27 and at the Green Careers Conference at U.C. Berkeley on Nov 17.

About David Blume:

For more information about the International Institute for Sustainable Agriculture or author, lecturer David Blume, his coming “Alcohol Can Be A Gas” book release and current speaking engagement schedule please visit: http://www.permaculture.com/

Source of this excerpt post: www.earthtalk.org

Research Finds Pollution Causes 40 Percent Of Deaths Worldwide

About 40 percent of deaths worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution, concludes a Cornell researcher. Such environmental degradation, coupled with the growth in world population, are major causes behind the rapid increase in human diseases, which the World Health Organization has recently reported. Both factors contribute to the malnourishment and disease susceptibility of 3.7 billion people, he says.

David Pimentel, Cornell professor of ecology and agricultural sciences, and a team of Cornell graduate students examined data from more than 120 published papers on the effects of population growth, malnutrition and various kinds of environmental degradation on human diseases.

"We have serious environmental resource problems of water, land and energy, and these are now coming to bear on food production, malnutrition and the incidence of diseases," said Pimentel.

Of the world population of about 6.5 billion, 57 percent is malnourished, compared with 20 percent of a world population of 2.5 billion in 1950, said Pimentel. Malnutrition is not only the direct cause of 6 million children's deaths each year but also makes millions of people much more susceptible to such killers as acute respiratory infections, malaria and a host of other life-threatening diseases, according to the research.

Among the study's other main points:

Nearly half the world's people are crowded into urban areas, often without adequate sanitation, and are exposed to epidemics of such diseases as measles and flu.

With 1.2 billion people lacking clean water, waterborne infections account for 80 percent of all infectious diseases. Increased water pollution creates breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, killing 1.2 million to 2.7 million people a year, and air pollution kills about 3 million people a year. Unsanitary living conditions account for more than 5 million deaths each year, of which more than half are children.

Air pollution from smoke and various chemicals kills 3 million people a year. In the United States alone about 3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into the environment -- contributing to cancer, birth defects, immune system defects and many other serious health problems.

Soil is contaminated by many chemicals and pathogens, which are passed on to humans through direct contact or via food and water. Increased soil erosion worldwide not only results in more soil being blown but spreading of disease microbes and various toxins.

At the same time, more microbes are becoming increasingly drug-resistant. And global warming, together with changes in biological diversity, influence parasite evolution and the ability of exotic species to invade new areas. As a result, such diseases as tuberculosis and influenza are re-emerging as major threats, while new threats -- including West Nile virus and Lyme disease -- have developed.

"A growing number of people lack basic needs, like pure water and ample food. They become more susceptible to diseases driven by malnourishment, and air, water and soil pollutants," Pimentel concludes. He and his co-authors call for comprehensive and fair population policies and more conservation of environmental resources that support human life.

"Relying on increasing diseases and malnutrition to limit human numbers in the world diminishes the quality of life for all humans and is a high-risk policy," the researchers conclude.

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By Susan Lang

Algae - The Holy Grail of Biodiesel - May Soon Be Reality

The biodiesel community has always been marked by spirited enthusiasm, a clear sense of mission, and the dream that biodiesel could one day play a significant role in our energy future. That dream may soon be a reality. Researchers at Utah State University say that farming algae, with reported oil yields of 10,000 gallons per acre, could become an economically feasible biodiesel feedstock by the end of the decade.

This is the Holy Grail of biodiesel: an oil source that could make a serious dent in our fossil fuel consumption. Our most productive feedstock today, the oil palm, doesn't even come close with
yields of 635 gallons/acre, and is followed distantly by the U.S. standard, soy, at 48 gallons of oil/acre.

Producing biodiesel from algae isn't a new concept, and it's easy to see why: algae grow voraciously (measured by the day), algae can proliferate in heinous growing conditions (saltwater or extreme temperatures), and certain species contain up to 60% oil (by weight).

Put quite simply, microalgae are remarkable and efficient biological factories capable of taking a waste (zero-energy) form of carbon (CO2) and converting it into a high density liquid form of energy (natural oil). This ability has been the foundation of the research program funded by the Office Fuels Development."

Between 1978 and 1996, the Department of Energy (DOE) funded research into technologies that could have significant impacts on the consumption of fossil fuels. The focus of this research became the Aquatic Species Program (ASP), which investigated renewable fuel production (biodiesel) from high-oil algae species, fed by the waste CO2 from coal-fired plants. Researchers whittled down over 3,000 strains of microorganisms into the most productive 300, and constructed 1000 sq. meter test ponds outside of Roswell, NM. The ponds were set up as sort of algae 'race-tracks', where algae were circulated around shallow, oval-shaped ponds as carbon dioxide bubbled through the mixture. Results were successful and encouraging, but the program fizzled out after almost 2 decades (a lot of which had to do with a budget crunch and allocating more resources to researching ethanol). Researchers noted that one obstacle to large-scale algae production may be the high cost, which was estimated to be double the price of diesel at the time. (I wonder what they would say now.)

Utah State may finally take this research to the next level. Scientists there plan to produce algae in a grid of indoor bioreactors, with light captured by parabolic dishes on the roof and fed inside via fiber-optic cables. Put several thousand of these bioreactors together and you have an algae farm:

The solar bioreactor utilizes single cell algae, nature’s most efficient means to convert sunshine to biomass, which contain up to 60% oil by weight.[4] To minimize land and water resources, an enclosed bioreactor is used to grow algae on proprietary vertical membranes that resemble library newspaper racks. Harvesting of algae is achieved by periodically flushing water down the membrane from holes in the top ‘rack’. Mature algae are dislodged and collected in a bottom trough while immature algae cling to the membrane and continue to grow. Sunlight is collected and distributed to vertical panels that are sandwiched in close proximity between the growth membranes, much like alternating plates in a car battery. Oil extracted from mature algae can be converted to biodiesel using well established technologies."

The program has been funded by $6 million in seed money from the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative, and plans on building the first commercial plant in Utah. USU researchers say algae-biodiesel could become economically feasible by 2009.

Needless to say, this is an exciting project that I will be watching closely.


By Clayton Bodie Cornell