Back in 1994, then-Vice President Al Gore used his tie-breaking vote in the Senate to mandate that ethanol be blended into our nation’s gasoline supply.
Well, 16 years later, the history of taxpayer subsidies for ethanol is not a good one. Because the federal government offers hefty subsidies — $7.7 billion last year alone — for ethanol production, farmers have diverted lots of corn from food to fuel production. Analysts from Goldman Sachs estimate that 41 percent of U.S. corn this year will be used for ethanol production. That boosts the cost of food products made with corn and meat from animals fed with corn.
Ethanol also damages small engines, such as those in lawnmowers. It reduces gas mileage, too. And though it was long touted as “clean, green energy,” it can actually contribute to smog.
Ironically, the former vice president now admits that big subsidies for ethanol were not a good idea.
“It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for [corn-based] ethanol,” he said during a conference in Greece.
But he added, according to Reuters news service, “It’s hard once such a program is put in place to deal with the lobbies that keep it going.”
In other words, the ethanol and farm state lobbies will continue pressuring Congress to keep ethanol subsidies in effect even though the fuel requirement has proved harmful!
Shouldn’t that be a warning to Congress about why it should not offer subsidies in the first place?