Corn Ethanol's Subsidy Glut

Greentechmedia.com
by: Jeff St. John
January 9, 2009

Corn ethanol received 76 percent of all federal government renewable energy subsidies in 2007, despite its unclear environmental and energy benefits, according to the Environmental Working Group.

Corn-based ethanol, beloved by farm states and maligned by some environmentalists, received more than three-quarters of all federal renewable energy tax credits in 2007 – a balance that the Environmental Working Group says needs to change.

The Washington, D.C.-based group released a report Thursday citing U.S. Department of Energy data showing the corn-based ethanol industry took about $3 billion in federal tax credits in 2007, or 76 percent of all the tax credits going to renewable energy nationwide. That could grow to $5 billion by 2010, the report stated.

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