*Firstly,. I believe that studies have shown ethanol/ethanol blends to be cleaner than the regular gasoline we use in our cars. Using ethanol/ethanol blends in our cars would reduce the amount of pollution our cars put in an already polluted environment. 10% ethanol blends reduce carbon monoxide better than any other reformulated gasoline blend; more than 25% to be exact! (BTW, ethanol burns cleaner than its alternative fuel counterpart, methanol.) Even oil companies are now starting to acknowledge the environmental and energy benefits of ethanol. Checkout the Mobil brochure at www.ethanol.org and see for yourself. *Secondly, in addition to the environmental benefits, an increased use of ethanol/ethanol blends would benefit the U.S. economy. The most obvious benefits going to agriculture. The increased use of ethanol/ethanol blends would raise the prices of the farmer’s crops. In fact the demand for corn created by the ethanol industry increases crop values; accounting for approximately $0.14 of the value of every bushel of corn sold, or $1.4 billion. Ethanol production consumed 535 million bushels of corn in 1994; 5.3% of the record 10 billion bushel corn crop! As you can see, this would help solve the problem of farm failures and bankruptcies that have plagued U.S. farmers for years. If the market for ethanol did not exist, corn stocks would rise, net income to American corn farmers would be reduced by $6 billion over the next five years, or about 11%. In addition to agriculture alone, the agricultural processing industry would also experience an economic boost due to the increased need for ethanol processing plants. More processing plants would also mean more jobs. More than $3 billion has been invested in 55 ethanol production facilities operating in 20 different states across the country. In addition, the ethanol industry is responsible for more than 40,000 direct and indirect jobs, creating more than $1.3 billion in increased household income annually, and more than $12.6 billion over the next five years. Perhaps all the newly unemployed in the recent weeks could work at an ethanol plant! In fact, increases in ethanol production offer enormous potential for economic growth in small rural communities. The USDA has estimated that a 100 million gallon ethanol plant could create 2,250 local jobs. A few of these plants could surely help out this country’s ailing economy! The processing of ethanol also creates ethanol by-products that are beneficial and needed by other sectors of the economy.
*Thirdly, an increased use of ethanol/ethanol blends would reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and in turn decrease our trade deficits. Domestic ethanol and ETBE production reduces demand for imported oil and imported MTBE which drain our economy; oil and MTBE imports now represent almost 80% of the U.S. trade deficit. Today, ethanol reduces the demand for gasoline and MTBE imports by 98,000 barrels a day. A 98,000 barrel a day replacement of imported MTBE would represent a $1.1 billion reduction to our annual trade deficit. Currently, imported oil accounts for about 53% of oil used, and imported MTBE is at a record 31% of domestic production. Speaking of MTBE, this percentage is high, even after studies and research discovered traces of MTBE in water supplies in areas around the U.S.! Industrial corn use, which includes ethanol and sweetener production, is now the second largest consumer of corn in America. Each $1 of up-stream and on-farm activity generates $3.20 in downstream economic stimulus attributable to ethanol processing, compared to just $0.31 when corn is exported. Ethanol production also generates exports of feed co products, such as corn gluten, further enhancing our balance of trade.