The
question answers itself. Of course not. But that is the effect of the
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), more commonly known as the ethanol
mandate. More than 1 billion of the world’s people live in absolute poverty. When prices for staple commodities soar, millions of people can be pushed to the brink of starvation.
Under the RFS (Energy Independence and Security Act,
p. 31), refiners must sell specified amounts of biofuel each year. The
“volumetric targets” increase from 4.0 billion gallons in 2006 to 36
billion gallons in 2022. The amount of corn ethanol qualifying as
“renewable” maxes out at 15 billion gallons in 2015. Already, ethanol
production consumes about 40% of the annual U.S. corn crop.
By
2022, 21 billion gallons are to be “advanced” (low-carbon) biofuels, of
which 16 billion gallons are to be made from plant cellulose. But with
cellulosic ethanol proving to be a complete dud, corn growners and ethanol producers are lobbying
to redefine corn ethanol as ”advanced.” If they succeed, mandatory
sales of corn ethanol could significantly exceed 15 billion gallons
annually.
In
any event, the RFS sets aside a large and increasing quantity of the
U.S. corn crop each year for ethanol production regardless of market
demand for competing uses — and heedless of the potential impacts on
food prices and world hunger. No matter how much of the U.S. corn crop
is ruined by drought, no matter how high corn prices get, no
matter how many people in developing countries are imperiled, the RFS
requires that billions of bushels of corn be used to fuel cars rather
than feed livestock and people. This is crazy.
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