Conservative biofuel plan is losing popularity
Oil prices closed today at a record US$133 a barrel, but interest in biofuel is not keeping pace
Matthew Johnston - May 21, 2008
An Angus Reid poll released on May 13, 2008 shows that only 53 per cent of respondents believe "ethanol is a great alternative to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels." Furthermore, a remarkable 44 per cent believe "corn or wheat-based ethanol should be banned, because it is ethically wrong to use food to produce fuel" in light of global food shortages.
Biofuel is extremely unpopular when compared against solar power and wind power, for instance, which enjoy the approval of 96 per cent and 89 per cent of Canadians respectively.
The declining popularity of biofuel has not deterred the Conservative government, however, which is aggressively pursuing biofuel subsidies and mandates.
The Conservative government has committed $200 million to biofuel production through the ecoAgriculture Biofuels Capital Initiative (ecoABC) alone and today introduced Bill C-33 which would make mandatory a minimum five percent biofuel content in all fuels by 2010.
"This bill is little more than another Harper government handout to the biofuel industry," said Green Party leader Elizabeth May today. "Already, support for biofuels, at $2.2 billion, is the most expensive environment program in the 2008 budget. With increased biofuel subsidization linked to rising food prices and world hunger, the Green Party believes this legislation will perpetuate the problem," continued May.
The Conservative government does acknowledge that biofuel subsidies coming through ecoABC are in part intended to allow "agricultural producers to diversify their economic base."
Newly elected Libertarian Party leader Dennis Young added that his party would scrap the biofuel mandates and subsidies to the industry: "Good ideas find support in the market. Bad ideas require government subsidies and mandates." Young argued that alternative energy solutions should come from the free market: "High oil prices are driving innovations in alternative energy. Let's remove the government barriers to successful innovation and see what alternatives prove the most viable."
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