Admit it: everytime someone begins to talk about ethanol, you feel an overpowering desire to lie down. Perhaps take a nice little nap.
Well, finally someone–James Surowiecki, of the New Yorker–has found a non snore-inducing way to explain why ethanol is not the answer to American’s fuel needs. It’s actually not that complicated. Two words: Washington, D.C. (Or is that three words?) Anyhow: here’s the can’t miss quote:
Our current policy is absurd even by Washington standards: Congress is paying billions in subsidies to get us to use more ethanol, while keeping in place tariffs and quotas that guarantee that we’ll use less. And while most of the time tariffs just mean higher prices and reduced competition, in the case of ethanol the negative effects are considerably greater, leaving us saddled with an inferior and less energy-efficient technology and as dependent as ever on oil-producing countries. Because of the ethanol tariffs, we’re imposing taxes on fuel from countries that are friendly to the U.S., but no tax at all on fuel from countries that are among our most vehement opponents.
Our sweet tooth also has something to do with it. The whole piece, only about a thousand words, is highly recommended.
Kit Stolz 