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Debating The Benefits Of Ethanol

By Robert Safuto on Nov 25, 2007 in News

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today from Robert Hahn titled Ethanol’s Bottom Line.  The editorial references a recently released report from the AEI-Brookings Joint Center that questions the benefits of the government subsidizing ethanol as an alternative fuel source.

Mr. Hahn states in his editorial that, “The results, based on a recent Environmental Protection Agency report on the economics of mandating the production of alternative fuels, strongly suggest that that the case for ethanol is lacking.”

Mr. Hahn’s findings will undoubtedly spur quite a bit of debate as there is a very strong lobby for ethanol in the United States. Ethanol does have its flaws though. Corn-based ethanol drives up the price of corn which negatively affects those who rely on corn as a staple food. And the amount of energy that it takes to create ethanol from corn may offset the benefits of using ethanol as a fuel source.

The entire paper that the editorial is based on can be downloaded here.

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  • Justin StormoGipson, MD

    Robert Hahn tells much less than half of the story (Ethanol’s Bottom Line, Nov 24th WSJ) By his own calculations the 51 cent per gallon subsidy for ethanol is an excellent bargain compared to the tax-payer subsidies for gasoline. Securing access to Middle Eastern petroleum is currently costing the taxpayer approximately $2.00 per gallon. Not to mention interest on the war debt or other tax breaks for the petroleum industry. Of course better technologies for producing ethanol from cellulose are rapidly emerging and should be “subsidized” heavily along with other forms of renewable energy. This will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save U.S. tax payers trillions of dollars in costs to maintain a military presence in oil rich countries around the world.

    Most sincerely,

    Justin StormoGipson, MD
    Coeur d Alene, ID 83814

  • Justin StormoGipson, MD

    Robert Hahn tells much less than half of the story (Ethanol’s Bottom Line, Nov 24th WSJ) By his own calculations the 51 cent per gallon subsidy for ethanol is an excellent bargain compared to the tax-payer subsidies for gasoline. Securing access to Middle Eastern petroleum is currently costing the taxpayer approximately $2.00 per gallon. Not to mention interest on the war debt or other tax breaks for the petroleum industry. Of course better technologies for producing ethanol from cellulose are rapidly emerging and should be “subsidized” heavily along with other forms of renewable energy. This will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and save U.S. tax payers trillions of dollars in costs to maintain a military presence in oil rich countries around the world.

    Most sincerely,

    Justin StormoGipson, MD
    Coeur d Alene, ID 83814

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