Arguments Against Alternate Fuels
- Ethanol, created from corn, is a chief example critics use to attack the use of alternative fuels.corn oil image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
Oil has made possible the world as it is today. Not just your car, but most of the products you buy in the store either had something to do with petroleum in their manufacture or delivery or both. With many worried about the long-term supply of oil that is available, the search is on for alternative fuels. This search has yielded results, but it has also been the cause of much political corruption. - Ethanol is perhaps the most commonly-used alternative fuel today. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with the actual practical value of ethanol as a fuel source. Rather, the U.S. government has created a variety of ethanol subsidies and funding projects over the years as a way to provide money to farmers and the businesses that process corn into ethanol. Critics argue that ethanol and other alternative fuels represent nothing more than government "pork."
- Though there are a variety of alternative fuels already available, the primary reason that they have not been widely-adopted is because they do not offer equal benefits in terms of cost when compared to petroleum. Scientists are hurriedly researching ways to develop alternative fuels that will be able to compete with petroleum on an equal playing field. But until they do, the use of alternative fuels is simply impractical and likely to retard further research.
- The pursuit of alternative fuels by governments around the world has been criticized quite harshly for creating unnecessary burdens and obstacles to economic growth. Through subsidies and regulations to encourage the use of alternative fuels, governments have distorted normal market functioning. If alternative fuels were already a true alternative to petroleum, they would not need government intervention for help, as companies naturally seeking better efficiency would adopt their use on their own.
