Texas Was Denied a Request to Reduce EPA’s Biofuel Mandate

Governer Perry of Texas was denied the request to half the required ethanol mix the nation must add to fuel mixes over the course of 2008 and 2009. The amount of ethanol fuel the EPA requires equals close to 25 billion gallons of ethanol fuel. Governor Perry’s concern is that since Ethanol is created from corn that the fuel mix that the EPA is demanding is causing food prices to rise too high. There are further studies showing that ethanol could actually be considered to by a dirtier fuel than coal fired power plants. The argument is that by concentrating on ethanol you raise food prices and you destroy farm land that was once used for the production of the nations food.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute discovered that when you compare the benefits of green house gas reductions to the impact to ethanols overall environmental impact you end up worse off. This makes my point that having a balanced energy strategy makes more sense. You are able to keep things in moderation and there isn’t one primary fuel source that the nation relies upon. By having a balanced energy strategy for the nation if natural gas is low in storage then you don’t see electricity prices skyrocket. If ethanol becomes the primary fuel to power our cars you don’t see a gallon costing $7 like some countries who have gone completely over to an ethanol based fuel economy.

Some of the cleanest biofuel that does not have an adverse effect on environment while reducing green house gases is biomass waste. Big heaps of wood chips and debrees are examples of biomass that can be converted to clean energy. With the new technology in place to product cleaner power using traditional dirty fuels like coal and natural gas many governments and environmental groups are looking at the possibility of saving the environment using more traditional power and energy sources. Natural gas and coal are slowly becoming less evil. Algae biofuel is an up and coming fuel source that may compete with traditional corn based ethanol fuels to help ethanol continue to compete as a viable fuel source for protecting the environment and reducing green house gases.

Although governor Perry was denied his request by the EPA we are not out of luck as food prices have stabilized and new technology may allow us to find other sources besides corn to get the ethanol fuels we need.