Posted on 05/19/2011 5:04:09 AM PDT by possum john
Ethanol is Not About Energy Independence
Have you figured out that the federal ethanol program is not about becoming energy independent, but about putting Midwest corn farmers on the government dole? If not, keep reading. If so, are you ready to help end it? That's in here, too.
If you think ethanol lowers fuel prices, then I guess you don't know that each gallon of ethanol is subsidized 47.5 cents per gallon by our tax dollars. In fact, Brazil exports ethanol, but we put a 54 cents per gallon import tax on Brazilian ethanol and then limit its import to seven percent of US production. If it were about saving money, we'd simply import the much less expensive ethanol from Brazil.
If it were about energy independence, we wouldn't us corn, either. It takes about 65% more energy to produce ethanol from corn than the ethanol yields. Who says so? University of California-Berkeley geoengineering professor Tad W. Patzek in Science Daily back in 2005.
(Excerpt) Read more at thekencarroll.blogspot.com ...
So you admit to being a user, not a contibutor.
Hope you and your sockpuppet have fun here.
“The subsidy is paid at the blending of gasoline. It is paid regardless of the source. If we eliminated the tariff, the subsidy would still be paid, but we would be promoting the foreign import over domestic production without the tariff.”
You appear to be forgetting about these subsidies.
http://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=corn
How many of those are tied to production values? How many would actually result in less paid if more was produced? How many would be paid regardless?
I am not promoting the subsidies. But the poster seemed to be talking about the blender credit subsidy. I definitely do not want to be paying a subsidy to foreign produced ethanol.
I think subsidies are subsidies. They should all be eliminated. If a farmer can grow corn and sell it to an unsubsidized ethanol plant at a profit with no subsidies along the way I say more power to him, otherwise, it needs to end.
Agreed. But as long as the subsidies exist, the tariff needs to remain so we are not subsidizing foreign production.
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