Politicians Begin to Choke on Ethanol Myths

Russ Harding took to the New York Times last month to describe yet more reasons why taxpayers in Michigan and across the nation should stop letting politicians get away with the great ethanol scam. Might reason be finally breaking through?

Evidence: Yesterday, a committee in the Michigan House considered HB 5042, which MichiganVotes.org says would "require that half the light trucks and all the cars the state purchases after 2009 be 'alternative energy' vehicles. There would be a preference that the trucks not be E-85 ethanol burners."

This bill is the work of state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, D-Ypsilanti. Leaving aside the questionable notion of requiring the state to buy "alternative energy" vehicles rather than the most cost effective vehicles available for the taxpayers' scarce nickels, the deliberate exclusion of ethanol in such a bill demonstrates that some politicians can be taught to throw in the towel when a green energy swindle has finally jumped the shark.

How many years before the rest of the climate change agenda gets to this point?

Below is a fun video from Reason and some recent Mackinac Center and Michigan Capitol Confidential work regarding politicians and ethanol:

www.mackinac.org/11474

www.mackinac.org/10631

www.mackinac.org/10496

www.mackinac.org/9915

www.mackinac.org/9269

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Mackinac Center policy staff.