Despite an explosion of private investment in the U.S. liquid biofuels industry, taxpayers are contributing around seven billion dollars a year in subsidies which could be better used for other energy- and environment-saving technologies, according to a major new report released here Wednesday.
Article mentions the biofuels subsidy study done by Earth Track for IISD's Global Subsidies Initiative.
Detailed overview of the ecological challenges of biofuels, and includes discussion of subsidies as well, referencing Earth Track's 2006 review for the IISD.
...More corn for ethanol producers, of course, means less for livestock. Ranchers in wide-open Western states and pig farmers in the rural stretches of the South and Midwest are finding their businesses slammed by policies cooked up in Washington.
Hitch says the feedstock that's primarily made from corn is the single biggest expense for his business. As corn costs have doubled, meat packers and processors like Tyson Foods (TSN) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) have to pay more for the animals they buy.
References Earth Track's detailed 2006 review of US biofuel subsidies published by the IISD:
Article for the Interpress News Service. (June 2007).