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For the tenth and final episode, Sarah, Brent, and David reflect on the season and key lessons. From biases to mental models, it’s important to consider how our own thought processes can impact our conclusions about ethanol and shape our expectations about carbon. Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

From policy to electric vehicles, the future of ethanol is arguable as uncertain as it has ever been. Have the seeds for ethanol’s demise already been sown, or is the outlook less dire than it initially seems?      In this episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspectives on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

What happens when a demand shift pushes commodity prices and farm incomes higher? To answer this, we have to consider the short-run and long-run implications. Just as the challenges that ethanol faced evolved and shifted, so will the future of carbon and carbon markets.      This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

Just as corn-based ethanol production was surging to fulfill the mandates of the 2007 RFS, enthusiasm began shifting to the new kid on the block: cellulosic ethanol. With the help of the government - including mandated usage- the even better renewable fuel made from switchgrass, corn stover, or other biomass feedstocks was just around the corner, or so we thought. This raises important questions for carbon markets, what happens if the technologies needed, despite the enthusiasm and investments, don’t materialize?  This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies. Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

The goals of every policy are eventually tested in the real world. For ethanol, the challenges came in the form of the “blend wall,” which effectively capped the growth of this formerly booming sector. Even the best-designed policies will struggle to navigate conditions that were uncertain or difficult to predict when legislation was passed. For carbon, detecting those potential limits on future growth are critical, and making sure our eyes are open to the possible pitfalls in terms of policy and market growth that might be on the horizon.  In this episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies. Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) bolstered the market for corn-based ethanol, but also fueled a frenzy to build ethanol plants. Proposed plants got larger, building costs jumped higher, and a surge of potential projects created a regulatory and construction logjam. But just as fast as the mania turned red hot, the prospects of an even better technology and the ripples of the Great Recession shuttered projects that were years into planning.        This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

Though the amount of enthusiasm and excitement around voluntary ag carbon markets might make you believe that we’ve already determined that it’ll be the best way to involve agriculture in climate action, it’s definitely not the only, and likely not the best solution out there. In fact, there are several ways policymakers could create or motivate change, with various carrots and sticks, in the way that agriculture operates. Adding to the complication, even within a general policy solution - such as carbon markets - there are many details and nuances about how the program works.   This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

Ethanol’s rise was fueled by the introduction of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Often lost in debates about implementing RFS has been the motivation, political shuffling, and history of two historic pieces of legislation. How exactly did RFS come to be, and what can we learn as it applies to the voluntary programs proposed for carbon?   This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming and AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

Corn alcohol has a long history as a fuel, going back well into the 19th century. Over time, it’s fallen in and out of favor, from being a pet project of Henry Ford’s to being outlawed during prohibition. By the 1970s, an oil crisis prompted farmers and lawmakers to take ethanol off the shelf, but it would languish until environmental concerns in the 1990s brought it back into the agricultural mainstream.  Carbon markets are still very much experiencing their origin story, but by understanding how ethanol rose to prominence, we can gain a new understanding about what the next several years might look like for ag carbon markets. This episode, you’ll join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy, as well as economists, historians, policy advisors, and entrepreneurs as they share their perspective on the birth of two environmental ag policies.  Learn more about becoming an AEI Premium subscriber at AEI.ag/premium.

Fifteen years ago, corn ethanol was a wunderkind, set to cure the U.S.’ addiction to foreign oil, reduce the pollution caused by driving, and revitalize American agriculture and rural economies. In the intervening years, the problems evolved while ethanol remained, and today many question what the future of the sector might look like. Today the U.S. is facing a different set of challenges, particularly around climate change, and the search for a solution - perhaps a silver bullet - remains. Ag carbon markets look promising, and advocates and entrepreneurs are flocking to them in the hopes that saving the planet might be a lucrative endeavor.  Might the history of ethanol, ag’s past environmental policy, offer insight on what might be ahead for carbon markets? Join Ag Economic Insights David Widmar and Brent Gloy as they peak into the history books to see the future.  Corn Saves America is sponsored by AEI Premium. Join the community for decision makers in agriculture. Free 14-day trial: https://aei.ag/premium/.   

Returning from the successful and award-winning “Escaping 1980,” the AEI.ag team presents the second season of the podcast series. In Corn Saves America, Brent Gloy, David Widmar and Sarah Mock again use lessons learned from history, but this time as it applies to the future of carbon markets through the lens of corn ethanol.  Rather than picking a side of the debate, the team is joined by a host of additional experts to review the rise of biofuel for lessons that are applicable to the current enthusiasm about carbon offsets.

Exploring the causes, impacts, and lasting effects of one of the most infamous events in American agriculture history, the 1980s farm crisis. In this final episode of Escaping 1980, we’re training our gaze on the horizon, armed with a solid understanding of what happened during the last farm crisis. The 1980s and today are not perfect foils for one another, but there are certainly similarities. And though the differences might offer some comforts, those similarities should give us pause. Dig into where we are now, where the biggest risks lie in for the modern farm economy, and how to prepare your thinking for less predictable world. Because myths left unchallenged are sure to make the next crisis more devastating than it could have been. Escaping 1980 is sponsored by AEI Premium. Join the community for decision makers in agriculture. Free 14-day trial: https://aei.ag/premium/.  Be your own guru.