FreedomTalks

For various reasons, people on both sides of the political aisle, though more Democrats than Republicans, have supported America’s ethanol policy…a policy which is not just silly but also dangerous.

There’s been a lot of press lately about food shortages in the third world caused in part by America and Europe’s ethanol policy, but that’s only the latest reason to oppose ethanol subsidies and mandates. The other reasons are, if less dramatic, just as good and much older.

There is no science to support ethanol, including in the area of “greenhouse gases” for those of you who believe such things are a real problem. At least as compelling is the outrageous economics of ethanol.

I heard someone being quoted in a radio newscast this morning saying that we should be thankful for ethanol because it costs 50 cents per gallon less than gasoline.  He conveniently forgot to mention that that includes more than $1 per gallon in direct and indirect subsidies, and that ethanol provides far lower miles per gallon than gasoline, making ethanol far more expensive to taxpayers even though for all those reasons the price at the pump may be low enough to fool some consumers into thinking they’re getting a good deal.

You can read a more in-depth article which I’ve written on the subject at this link:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26348

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.