I get a real kick out of how writers will confuse tax breaks with subsidies. So I guess everyone to gets a break on their taxes by claiming a mortgage deduction or child care tax credit is getting a "subsidy".
While the spike in corn prices is real, some would like to insinuate that corn used in ethanol production is corn taken out of the system and means less for livestock production and such. Baloney. Dried Distillers Grain (DDG) is a hot commodity. It is more digestible than straight corn rations in livestock and reduces the occurrence of gastro intestinal problems in livestock. Since the starches and sugars have been distilled out, the final product has a higher concentration of protein as well.
I can understand livestock producers, and others, having seizures over grain prices, but that is due to a lot of factors. Grain, worldwide, is in higher demand and recent droughts in areas like Texas and now the upper midwest have put a crimp in available grain. The price follows the demand. And less we forget, the dollar lost 25% of its value in the last 8 years. That has as much as anything to do with higher prices.
I ran a couple of pre-2003 gasoline autos with ethanol concentrations up to 30% with no issues. Above that, the O2 sensors usually had a fit and threw a CEL. But the engines and fuel system did not suffer any adverse affects. I know that is only anecdotal evidence, but this has been studied somewhat by major universities, primarily in the midwest, and they have not shown any appreciable problems going to E15. But I will admit on another level, I am sick of government putting their toe on the scale. Let the market decide where and how much ethanol to put in gasoline. If it fails, too bad.
