October 31, 2019
TAX WHAT YOU DON'T WANT...:
End the Failed Renewable Fuel Standard Experiment: Why Congress should abolish the ethanol mandate. (VERONIQUE DE RUGY | 10.31.2019, reason)
It's time for the annual congressional fight over the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS. In one corner sit corn farmers and their representatives, who fight tenaciously not just to preserve the RFS but to expand it. In the other sits, well, just about everyone else. Whether you are a refiner, a consumer, an environmentalist, a free market economist, or just someone who cares about good government, there is ample reason to oppose the ethanol mandate.Since 2005, the federal government has required that refineries blend increasing amounts of ethanol (grain alcohol) with gasoline. There are requirements for cellulosic, biodiesel, and advanced biofuels, with the rest of the mandate typically being met by corn ethanol since it is the cheapest.The stated goals of the RFS were to reduce reliance on foreign energy and to move toward cleaner fuel sources. It falls short on both fronts.
...don't subsidize what you think you do--the market chooses better.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 31, 2019 12:00 AM