CEI Today: Ethanol policy, California’s green chemistry law, and carbon taxes

CROP REPORT & ETHANOL POLICY – SAM KAZMAN, MARLO LEWIS, WILLIAM YEATMAN

CEI.org: As Corn Production Shrivels, EPA Stalls on Ethanol/Hunger Issue

On Friday, the U.S. Agriculture Department released its much-anticipated crop data report, revealing sharply reduced corn supplies due to continuing drought conditions. Corn yields are now estimated to come in at the lowest level in over 15 years, and the corn crop size will be the lowest in 5 five years. Coupled with the UN’s warning yesterday about surging food prices and the risks of a global food crisis, this indicates that the impact of ethanol fuel programs on world food supplies is worse than ever. These food-to-fuel programs use government mandates and subsidies to divert cor

CALIFORNIA’S GREEN CHEMISTRY LAW – ANGELA LOGOMASINI

Openmarket.org: Bureaucratic Green Chemistry

California bureaucrats recently released their proposed regulations implementing the state’s 2009-passed “green chemistry” law. The law supposedly will make life safer for California residents by ensuring that all products are designed to be “green.”But it is destined to fail — costing consumers without delivering benefits — because policymakers foolishly assume that bureaucrats are better situated than business to decide what makes a product safe.

CARBON TAXES – MARLO LEWIS

Globalwarming.org: Carbon Tax? Sorry, I Already Gave at the Office Gas Pump

Carbon tax advocates say Congress should slap a price penalty on fossil fuels to make consumers bear the “social cost of carbon” (SCC) — the damage carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions allegedly inflict on public health and welfare via their presumed impacts on global climate. Whether the tax on motor fuel is called a carbon tax or a gasoline tax, it has the same effects on consumer behavior and business investment. What the revenues are used for — roads & bridges, green tech R&D, health care, deficit reduction — is a separate issue. So the next time a warmista says we should pay a carbon tax, cheerfully reply, “Been there, done that, each time I fill up at the pump.”

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