Honesty About Ethanol

18 Nov 08

One of the 2007 energy bill’s most ambitious provisions — the ethanol mandate — has turned out to be its most troublesome. The provision would boost ethanol production from 7-plus billion gallons today to 36 billion gallons by 2022. In practical terms, this means doubling the production of corn ethanol until advanced forms of ethanol and other biofuels kick in. Congress stipulated that ethanol be cleaner than gasoline and handed the job of measuring emissions to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has found itself under ferocious pressure. The ethanol industry wants its product shown in the best possible light. Environmentalists want an honest accounting, which the public deserves but which they do not think an industry-friendly Bush administration is capable of.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/opinion/18tue2.html

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