The tax credit for ethanol is an example of a cost ineffective subsidy.

The cost of reducing CO2 emissions through this subsidy exceeded $1,700

per ton of CO2 avoided in 2006 and the cost of reducing oil consumption

over $85 per barrel.

I am not shocked, but it is worse than I had thought. Here is the full paper. But the funny thing is, that’s not even the worse thing I read about biofuels today. Courtesy of Daniel Akst, try this article:

…a growing body of scientific evidence suggests these gasoline

alternatives will actually boost carbon-dioxide levels and thereby

aggravate the problem of global warming. A study published in

the latest issue of Science finds that corn-based ethanol, instead of

reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by a hoped-for 20%, will nearly

double the output of CO2 and other gases that trap the sun’s heat. A

separate paper in Science concludes that the clearing of native

habitats around the world to grow more biofuel crops will lead to more

carbon emissions.

Or try this ungated version of a similar result. Wonderful.