Bush Administration Refuses To Reduce Mandates for Corn Ethanol

The U.S.’s controversial program to produce billions of gallons of ethanol from corn will continue following a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the program is in the national interest. The governor of Texas had asked the EPA to cut in half a federal mandate that 9 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel be mixed with gasoline in the coming year, arguing that the requirement was driving up food costs and hurting livestock producers. But EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson said he did not believe that the mandates were causing severe economic harm and said they were strengthening many farming communities now growing corn for ethanol. An unusual coalition of environmentalists, ranchers, and consumers has opposed the ethanol mandates. Studies have shown that producing corn ethanol releases as many or more greenhouse gases as burning an equivalent amount of gasoline. Critics contend that the ethanol boom also is a major factor in recent shortages and rapid price increases of agricultural commodities.