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Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy paper cites economic, environmental and logistical shortcomings
The United States needs to fundamentally rethink its policy of promoting ethanol to diversify its energy sources and increase energy security, according to a new policy paper by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
The paper, "Fundamentals of a Sustainable U.S. Biofuels Policy," questions the economic, environmental and logistical basis for the billions of dollars in federal subsidies and protectionist tariffs that go to domestic ethanol producers every year. "We need to set realistic targets for ethanol in the United States instead of just throwing taxpayer money out the window," said Amy Myers Jaffe, one of the report's authors.
Jaffe is a fellow in energy studies at the Baker Institute and associate director of the Rice Energy Program.
As an example of the unintended economic consequences of U.S. ...