Ethanol is just another agricultural subsidy

Since the 1970s, the U.S. Congress has showered the corn ethanol industry with ever-increasing mandates and subsidies. Congress has justified those subsidies by citing the industry's oft-repeated claim that increased domestic production of ethanol will cut U.S. oil imports and therefore increase America's energy security. That claim has no basis in fact. Between 1999 and 2009, while U.S. ethanol production increased seven-fold to more than 700,000 barrels per day, U.S. oil imports actually increased by more than 800,000 barrels per day. Furthermore, and perhaps most surprising, during that same time period, U.S. oil exports - yes, exports - more than doubled to some 2 million barrels per day. Data from the Energy Information Administration show that oil imports closely track U.S oil consumption. Over the last decade, as domestic oil demand grew, imports increased. When consumption fell, imports dropped. Ramped-up ethanol production levels simply had no apparent effect on oil imports or consumption. Thus, despite more than three decades of subsidies that have cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, the ethanol industry has not, and cannot, show any decline in oil imports--even during the time period when it experienced its most rapid growth...more