I am of the opinion that using corn based ethanol as a fuel is not a good idea. The only reason that ethanol is financially viable is that tax payers are funding these operations in the way of 6 billion in subsidies each year. This is no longer necessary as oil prices are high enough now to make ethanol competitive. There are many alternatives to gasoline/ethanol, but none share the vast infrastructure that has also been largely subsidized by taxpayers since the early 1900s. This of course results in a false picture as to the affordability of oil. Beyond the direct subsidization of oil there are tremendous external costs that we do not include in the price of a gallon of gas. Mostly these costs are related to pollution. The adverse effects of air pollution cost us over 50 billion each year in health costs by some estimates. Other costs relate to damage caused to the environment. These costs are massive and could lead to a change in life as we know it through global warming. It is time to measure the true cost of our system, and invest accordingly into renewable, clean energy.
Do you agree?
