Saturday, February 28, 2009

Federal Dollars for Alternative Energy

Undeterred by the fact that ethanol is the worst type or alternative energy, the federal government is in love with corn ethanol, perhaps a bit too much. Over the years, the American farm lobby has worked and worked to get subsidies for corn growers and, more recently, ethanol producers. The result, as calculated the Environmental Working Group in a new report, is that ethanol (including made-from-corn biofuel) now receives more than three times as many federal dollars ($3 billion in 2007) than solar, wind, geothermal and other biomass combined. With ethanol, especially corn ethanol, losing its luster, the imbalance of the pie chart above will hopefully get the Obama administration and the new Congress to reevaluate how renewable energy resources are spent in the coming years. Cellulosic ethanol, algea fuels, solar and wind power all deserve a bigger slice, don't you think?


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