Corn-fed NASCAR 1

OK, so I'm a little behind on my NASCAR news. But I was at the gym today when I saw up on the TV cars whizzing around the track followed by ... a bucolic scene of corn blowing in the wind. "NASCAR," the the closed-captioning read, "is helping save the environment." Here's CBS's coverage of the matter

One statement in particular is highly misleading:

According to Argonne National Laboratory, the use of only 10 percent of the clean-burning fuel reduces gas emissions by 12 to 19 percent compared to conventional gasoline.

No way does this figure take into account the carbon emissions from growing the corn and manufacturing the ethanol. This is just the tailpipe savings.

Could the first Indy car sponsored by the Sierra Club be far behind?

Doubt it. But maybe an Indy-sponsored Archer Daniels Midland car.

Maywa Montenegro is an editor and writer at Seed magazine, focusing mainly on ecology, bidiversity, agriculture, and sustainable development.

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  1. Simon Donner Posted 3:05 am
    31 Jul 2006

    save the ozone layer!The article is ridiculous on a number of levels, not the least of which is the lead "Even race car drivers care about the ozone layer."
    The ozone layer? Maybe if they are racing refrigeration trucks around the track. Someone has their environmental problems confused.

    http://simondonner.blogspot.com

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