Farms of the future  

Howard Dean is calling for wind farms and ethanol plants in Iowa (found the link at Apostropher). Wind farms seem like a good enough idea, although it's hard to find anything solid on their profitability. But these ethanol promises come around every election cycle, and the technology just hasn't been there - gasoline is just too cheap for ethanol to be a practical alternative. If Dean really wants to promote a biofuel industry a la Brazil, he'll have to allocate some serious funds for research and put a heavy tax on gasoline.

While I'm not opposed to biofuels per se, I'm not sure how necessary they are given the way the hybrid market is developing. My main interest though is in whether this could lead to the elimination of farm subsidies in the United States. If ethanol or windfarms could create a viable alternative income for American farmers, the benefits to the third world would be incalculable. But unfortunately, Dean's position on these subsidies is already clear.