Topic: Biofuel News - Don't Buy Into Biofuel Boondoggle - Hartford Courant
Promoters of the ethanol mandate assert that it would help the United States achieve energy independence and slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. For example, a 2006 report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development estimated that if one took into account state renewable fuel tax breaks and direct agricultural subsidies that reduce other costs, the total amount of the ethanol subsidy rises from $1. The International Food Policy Research Institute just issued a report projecting that if countries simply pursue their current biofuel expansion plans, the global price of corn will increase by 26 percent and the price for oilseeds will rise by 18 percent. The Food Policy Research Institute report notes that “The increase in crop prices resulting from expanded biofuel production is also accompanied by a net decrease in the availability of and access to food.
