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Reminder: Ethanol is not subsidized

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EthanolIf you’re going to criticize ethanol, at least make sure you’re criticizing something about it that actually exists.

A recent piece from The Motley Fool, published on the USA Today’s website, stated that ethanol is “not cost-competitive without government subsidies.” Problem is, ethanol is not subsidized. An ethanol tax credit ended in 2011.

As Media Matters highlights in this piece, The Motley Fool may have confused the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) with a subsidy. The RFS sets targets for the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline in order to reduce tailpipe emissions. It does not provide a tax break or any other type of monetary incentive or subsidy.

If The Motley Fool (and USA Today) was truly concerned about government subsidies, it should have written about the billions in subsidies enjoyed by the Oil Industry every year.

Ethanol is not subsidized. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped lazy commentators, quack websites and Big Oil from continuing to propagate this myth.

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