A study
by Iowa State University researchers concluded that incentivizing more
biofuel production with government policies leads to more adverse environmental
consequences caused by farming, the use of fertilizers, and land-use conversion
for agricultural production, resulting in increased soil erosion,
sedimentation, and nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into lakes and streams.
Though the
mandate benefits a select few in the Midwest, the Renewable Fuel Standard
spreads the cost to the rest of Americans, including many in the agricultural
community. The biofuels mandate gives preferential treatment to the production
of corn and soybeans at the expense of other agricultural products and
artificially eliminates the risk and competition necessary to drive innovation
and economic growth.
The problem with
the Renewable Fuel Standard is not the use of biofuels themselves, but rather
that it is a policy that mandates the production and consumption of the
fuel.
Having
politicians centrally plan energy decisions best left for the private sector
distorts markets and demonstrates the high costs and unintended consequences of
government control.
Congress
should admit that the Renewable Fuel Standard is costly to the economy and
the environment, benefiting a select group of special interests. Importantly,
Congress should recognize that the federal government has no business
determining what type of fuel we should use and how much of it we should
consume each year.
The
only viable solution to this broken policy is to repeal the biofuels mandate
altogether.
Full text at: Finally,
America May Be Catching On to Ethanol Racket
