The Ethanol Mandate Should Not be Expanded

References Earth Track's detailed 2006 review of US biofuel subsidies published by the IISD:

..."This mandate comes on top of other pro-ethanol provisions, most notably a 51 cent per gallon tax credit. Other incentives include payments to corn farmers and subsidies for small ethanol producers. These add up to $5.1 billion to $6.8 billion per year-roughly $1.00 per gallon of ethanol. Thanks in part to these incentives, current ethanol use is above the mandated levels, but without any government interference, the ethanol market would be considerably smaller. The domestic ethanol industry also benefits from tariffs limiting ethanol imports, mostly of sugar-derived ethanol from Brazil, which is produced more efficiently than ethanol from corn."