Passing gas: energy bill giveaways.

• Author: Koffler, Daniel
• Position: Energy Policy Act of 2005 - Brief Article

Presented last summer with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, only 12 senators dared vote against a measure that promised to "ensure jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and reliable energy." The cost of all that assurance: $36 billion over five years. In addition to authorizing a $6 million program to promote bicycle use, the energy, bill mandates that the national gasoline supply contain 8 billion gallons of "renewable fuel" (i.e., ethanol) by 2012, and more as consumption increases.

Ethanol-blended fuels are considerably more expensive to produce and risky to transport than nonblended fuels, a cost that will undoubtedly be passed on to consumers. Ethanol also happens to be derived from corn, making the requirement--by pure coincidence a huge boon to the subsidy-soaked agricultural sector. Americans who avoid higher prices at the gas pump may encounter them at the grocery store; the Congressional Budget Office projects a 10...