NASCAR is American - at least it has been. It is a great sport that grew up in the Southeast and now has to many part of North America.
Nothing stirs patriotism like the opening on of a NASCAR race - presentation of the colors, the National Anthem, a flyover, a prayer (very often a Christian one), and an open expression of gratitude to our troops.
You can imagine then how appalled I was today at the beginning of the race.
A beautiful commercial came on - shot like many of the Budweiser commercials. There were tractors in their fields, sunshine, and it was quite well done - until the end. It was a commercial for ethanol - corn ethanol - and it was produced by NASCAR.
Ethanol from sugar cane may be a fine product, but ethanol from corn is a lousy product and even worse idea:
- At a time when we are in the throws of an extended recession and entering an inflation brought on by rising fuel costs and rising food costs, corn does not need to be taken offline and diverted as a food source so that it can be made into ethanol and added to gasoline.
- Most every processed food has corn in it in some form - corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, corn oil, or some other corn byproduct. Using corn for ethanol limits the amount of corn that can be used as a vegetable, as a vegetable oil, as a sweetener for food processing, and as an export to countries who don't produce enough of their own corn.
- Corn ethanol reduces gas mileage by up to 20% over gasoline without the additive.
- Corn ethanol fouls and damages small engines with carburetors, such as weedeaters, snow blowers, and lawn mowers.
- The proposal to increase ethanol content in gasoline to 15% will ruin any engine older than 2004.
How can we as a country stand by and let the EPA does this to us? How can we as sports fans stand by and let NASCAR be complicit in this - and even add it to their race fuel?
Eliminate ethanol and let corn be used as the food source it was meant to be. Need more gasoline? Then let's drill for oil and build the refineries to make gasoline. We are an industrious nation.
───
For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other blog homesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.
Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.
© Steve Hoffacker, 2011. All Rights Reserved.
