Chart of the Day

From the Des Moines Register:

With ethanol now consuming 60 percent of Iowa’s corn crop, elimination of the Renewable Fuel Standard would remove a prime driver of record corn prices Iowa’s farmers have enjoyed in the last half-decade.
Through subsidies of ethanol, biodiesel and wind energy, the nation’s taxpayers bet big on renewable energy to lessen dependence on foreign oil and potential environmental damage from fossil fuels.
Iowa taxpayers made an even bigger bet: subsidizing construction of ethanol plants and wind manufacturers, providing a tax break for ethanol sales and funding university research.
But in 2007, when Congress required use of biofuels and then-Iowa Gov. Chet Culver made renewable energy the centerpiece of his new administration, no one foresaw the dramatic market shifts that have upended the nation’s energy landscape or the growing tide of resentment against renewable subsidies.

It is well past time to assess whether using 60 percent of Iowa's corn crop for ethanol is good policy.  I'd say it isn't.  While the past five years have been great for making money farming, the commodity price increases aren't good for the overall economy.  Also, the good times in ag make it more likely that people will get hurt really badly if things return to the long term trend of the 1983-2004 time frame.   Way too many people are saying it's different this time.  Unfortunately, it's almost never different.