There are a couple points I’d like to make after reading Aaron Woell’s Sept. 15 column “Ethanol may be OK for some people, but not for me.”

First, I disagree strongly with the categorization of agricultural subsidies as “a new form of welfare.” I particularly have concerns about the way farmers were presented: “greedy” and “shortsighted.” Farmers, at least the ones I know, are men and women who understand the meaning of hard work. These are people who work through blazing heat, bitter cold and endless hours. They are not people seeking to mooch off society. On the contrary, they feed the world!

Second, I’ll be among the first to acknowledge that ethanol is not all it’s cracked up to be. It indisputably has its shortcomings. However, as far as subsidies go, money for ethanol production is among the most effective of subsidies because it brings a decent return. It may not be cost effective, but to say that this subsidy is “of no benefit to you or me” is completely inaccurate.

Let me finish with some “food” for thought: If you want to see Iowa and the rest of the Midwest fail, allow farmers to fail. Thank you.

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Peter Thompson

Junior

Music education