Costly ethanol subsidies should be ended now

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With gasoline above $4 a gallon, it’s time to rethink the $6 billion Uncle Sam spends annually on ethanol subsidies paid to corn growers and ethanol producers. Ethanol increases the price of gasoline, pollutes the air, and drives up food costs, as well as increasing the deficit, which this fiscal year stands at $1.6 trillion.

Ethanol, a corn-based fuel that can be substituted for some of the gasoline needed to operate vehicles. But the gasoline-ethanol blend, currently 10 percent ethanol, lowers vehicles’ gas mileage, leaving motorists with higher fuel bills.

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