Letters: Ethanol good for economy, environment

In his Sept. 18 letter, “Renewable fuel standard doing more harm than good,” U.S. Rep. Tom Rice says ethanol emissions are 33 percent higher than with gasoline. He is using research data that is highly disputed.

Recent articles indicate that using large amounts of corn for ethanol does not affect food prices because of our free enterprise system: Farmers are becoming more efficient, corn hybrids produce more, farmers have a market for their product, and generally the agriculture industry is as healthy as it has ever been. Moreover, second-generation cellulosic ethanol is giving farmers a market for their farm waste as well as additional byproducts from ethanol.

The 10 percent of our motor fuel now manufactured in the United States creates jobs that can’t be outsourced.

The more energy we can produce in the United States the better — whatever the type. Cheap energy brings manufacturing back to the United States. The free market will determine which ones win out. Right now fossil fuels have the biggest lobby and get the biggest tax advantages. I could probably support Congressman Rice’s efforts to remove the renewable fuel standard if he wanted to remove all subsidies.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Letters: Ethanol good for economy, environment."