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Washington DC May 7, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that Ethanol is
in the midst of a booming renaissance, despite a host of questions.
President Bush says the fuel additive distilled from mashed and fermented
grain is a cheap-and-easy alternative to high-priced foreign oil. Yet, USA
Today reports that skeptics worry about ethanol's fuel efficiency —
lower than traditional gasoline — and its effects on both the
environment and food prices as corn chews up more farmland.
David Sykuta,
executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Council trade group, said,
"The thing that should make people cautious is the irrational exuberance,
that somehow ethanol is going to be the silver bullet that gets us out of
our energy woes.
That's just not true." Still, ethanol remains a darling of
Capitol Hill lawmakers. "As long as they're committed, it'll be more than
just a flash in the pan," said Darrel Good, a University of Illinois crop
marketing specialist. "It's basically growing because of fairly large
subsidies and mandates; right out of the chute, that philosophically
doesn't sit well with some folks."
Billions of dollars in government
support are going to developers of ethanol plants, as well as tax credits
of 51 cents refiners get for every gallon of ethanol they put in blended
gasoline.
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