The U.S. Subsidy That Empowers Putin
Ending America’s foolish subsidies for ethanol could aid Ukraine.
The United States is supporting Ukraine with aid and weapons and punishing Russian aggression with financial and economic sanctions. But the United States can do more to resolve the global crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine: It can end the ethanol program.
For decades, the U.S. government has, at great expense, encouraged farmers to grow more corn so that it can be turned into , a gasoline additive. Ethanol makers receive all kinds of grants and subsidies. Federal. Demand from the ethanol industry, in turn, bids up the price of corn, and the income of those who farm it.
