No argument that it is better to achieve progress in the energy field by private enterprise than by government mandate.
When I hear people bad mouthing ethanol, I think of the 75 years and billions of dollars we have spent trying to improve gasoline, and it is still a far from perfect fuel.
Would you care to compare a couple years of ethanol subsidies with 50 years of gasoline subsidies?
Of course being independent of Muslim oil is a national security issue, and both Reps and Dems are failing to address it adequatly, tho some progress is being made. The National Strategic Oil Reserves, established in response to the OPEC oil embargos of the 70s is one example of progress. The massive private investment in American Home Grown energy of every description is another.
If Iran succeeds in turning the Mideast into a nuclear cinder block we will sure get energy independent, in a big hurry.
I would toss Venezuelan oil in the taboo column too, what with Chavez using it as a weapon. I have no problem with importing Canadian and Mexican oil, as close as it is.
larry
Please identify the gasoline subsidies. The ethanol supporters like to talk about subsidies of other fuels but I have yet to see anyone identify any specific subsidies. Of course, the rats talk about subsidies but they are referring to tax breaks for research and development that are available to a variety of industries. Ethanol subsidies and mandates are massive: mandates for the amount of ethanol blended in gasoline, subsidies for fuel tax (no federal fuel tax on ethanol), and import tariffs on foreign ethanol. There is no equivalent subsidies and mandates for gasoline. No one wants to put ethanol in their tanks. Ethanol is a boondoggle.