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 Members of Congress say they overreached by pushing ethanol on
consumers and will move to roll back federal supports for it — the
latest sure signal that Congress' appetite for corn-based ethanol has
collapsed as food and gas prices have shot up.
House Majority
Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Democrats will use the pending farm bill to
reduce the subsidy, while Republicans are looking to go further,
rolling back government rules passed just four months ago that require
blending ethanol into gasoline.
"The view was to look to
alternatives and try to become more dependent on the Midwest than the
Middle East. I mean, that was the theory. Obviously, sometimes there
are unforeseen or unintended consequences of actions," Mr. Hoyer,
Maryland Democrat, told reporters yesterday.
Only a year ago,
Congress and President Bush seemed to view ethanol as a near-magic
solution to the nation's dependence on oil and counted on it to make a
dent in greenhouse gas emissions. Republicans and Democrats together
piled up the incentives and mandates that pushed farmers into planting
corn for ethanol and consumers into buying gasoline blended with it.
But
as farmers switched crops, they left a dearth in other foods — which,
coupled with higher worldwide living standards and higher demand — has
caused food shortages. Food riots have erupted in some nations, while
even in the U.S., some stores have said they will ration sales of
staples such as rice.
Now the most common phrase when lawmakers talk about ethanol is "unintended consequences."
"This
is a classic case of the law of unintended consequences," said Rep.
Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, who introduced a bill this week to end
the entire slate of federal supports, including the mandates for
blended gasoline, the tax credits for ethanol producers, and tariffs
that keep out cheaper foreign ethanol.
"Congress surely did
not intend to raise food prices by incentivizing ethanol, but that's
precisely what's happened. A jump in food prices is the last thing our
economy needs right now," Mr. Flake said. Read rest...
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