Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Farmers and subsidies aren't the reason for ethanol. Environmental regulations are. Fuel must contain an oxygenate in order to reduce air pollution. This used to be accomplished with the use of MTBE, but there were problems with it contaminating water supplies, so ethanol was considered a more environmentally friendly option. Loosen the tin foil hat a little. If it weren't for clean air we wouldn't need ethanol, it has nothing to do with farmers.
that maybe, but corn is one of i not the least efficient things to make ethanol from. one of the reasons so much of our ethanol comes from corn is that with the subsides and tax breaks, we have created/funded a rather powerful corn ethanol Lobby group, that will fight to keep US production into corn, and funding away from developing other sources.
Do you still actually believe this stuff highlighted? You are way behind the curve. Subsidies for ethanol were dropped in 2011. Sure there are tax breaks, but any of those are just reduction in taxes owed. Most folks get all kinds of tax breaks. Like mortgage interest deduction, child care deduction, health savings account deduction, and on and on and on. If we are truly going to be fair here, then eliminate all tax breaks, on everyone! Then no one can complain.
And this lobby group stuff. Every interest has a lobby group. AARP for seniors. NRA for gun owners, ATA for truckers, and the list goes on and on. There is a lobby group of some sort for everyone in the country. Again, let's be fair. Ban all lobby groups and so-called special interests.
And loss of funding for developing other sources. Have you been locked in in jail for the last 10 years? Travel around the country and see all the wind generators that have been put up. Rows and rows, mile after mile, especially in the midwest and great plains states. Oh... those are the largest corn producing states. I thought that the corn lobby was sucking up all the money to develop other sources? And it sure doesn't appear that the corn lobby has had any dent in the natural gas and oil drilling sector. Ask the folks in N. Dakota if the corn lobby is preventing them from drilling. Uh oh.... another corn producing state.
And people like this vote.