[SustainableTompkins] Cornell seminar on $20B mistake on biofuels

[Tony Del Plato]

Thanks Gay for this notice. I'm hoping to attend this program before I go to
work on Thursday. Also, I have sent this to Roger Cohen, a NYT columnist who
has defended biofuels as "a transition fuel" as the developed world weans
itself from fossil fuels. Bad idea but one that holds currency among
thoughtful people.
best
Tony Del Plato

On 4/29/08, GayNicholson at aol.com <GayNicholson at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> AEM  Spring 2008 Seminar
>
> 401 Warren Hall
> May 1, 2:30-4:00 pm
>
> The Looming  $20 Billion Mistake: How the New U.S. Biofuel Legislation
> Will
> Actually  Subsidize Oil Consumption
>
> Harry de  Gorter
> Department of Applied Economics and Management
> Cornell  University
>
>
> Harry de Gorter is involved in deliberations  regarding biofuels in the
> Doha
> negotiations and WTO trade disputes, and is  advising the Food and
> Agriculture
> Organization of the United Nations and the  World Bank on issues related
> to
> the impact of biofuels on food security and  global warming.
>
> Abstract: Recent U.S. energy legislation  follows other countries and
> imposes
> biofuel mandates while maintaining tax  credits. The result is that the
> intended effects of tax credits are reversed:  oil consumption is
> subsidized. This
> contradicts stated policy goals of  reducing dependence on oil and
> improving
> the environment and rural incomes.  The projected taxpayer costs of $20+
> bil.
> in 2022 will therefore be pure waste  while at the same time increase
> pollution, wealth transfers to the Middle East  and farm input costs
> through higher oil
> prices. These insights are independent  of the current public outcry over
> indirect land use effects and CO2 life-cycle  analysis of biofuels.
> Meanwhile,
> developing countries have lost both ways  through intensified food
> insecurity
> because of the food price spike while not  being allowed to attain the
> full
> benefits because of biofuel import tariffs.  This seminar will address the
> complex
> issues regarding the social costs and  benefits of various biofuel
> policies
> and recommend policy options to better  achieve public objectives.
>
>
> =======================================================
> Brian M. Henehan, Senior Extension Associate
> Department of Applied Economics and Management (AEM)
> 202  Warren  Hall                 Email:  bmh5 at cornell.edu
> Cornell  University                      Voice: 607-255-8800
> Ithaca, NY   14853-7801          Fax:    607-255-9984
>
> Web Page: _http://aem.cornell.edu_ (http://www.aem.cornell.edu/)
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Gay  Nicholson, Ph.D.
>
> 607-533-7312 (home office)
> 607-279-6618  (cell)
>
> 1 Maple Avenue
> Lansing, NY  14882
> gaynicholson at aol.com
>
> Sustainable Tompkins
> Program  Coordinator
> w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/)
>
> Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities
> Regional  Coordinator
> Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
> 615 Willow  Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
> agn1 at cornell.edu
>
>
>
>
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