Ethanol fuel incentives – time for change?
The Ethanol fuel industry is in a dither right now in-fighting about ways to persuade Congress to maintain government incentives.
Worth approximately $6 billion a year, the incentives are coming under the gun because the public is still not convinced that ethanol provides a viable alternative fuel given its high cost.
Some 30 years after the industry started receiving incentives, the public is still paying a high price for little returns. The US is still heavily reliant on gasoline while the incentives merely encourage the oil industry to add the corn based fuel to its gasoline.
Critics say the industry should stand on its own after receiving subsidies for 30 years and argue the tax credits are a waste of taxpayer dollars. A diverse coalition of groups has argued over the past few years that the increase in production of corn and its diversion for ethanol is making animal feed more expensive, raising prices at the grocery store and tearing up the land.
What do you think? Is it time to step taxpayer funded incentives for a fuel that hasn't yet taken off?