Reply #15: from today's LA Times...more examples of our generosity

[NJCher]

Lula has other priorities. Fearful of seeming too close to Bush, he is under heavy pressure from Brazilian farmers to protest U.S. agricultural supports — especially the 54-cents-a-gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol. But U.S. officials have flatly stated that they have no intention of seeking a reduction in the ethanol tariff. What Bush has offered instead is a variety of small anti-poverty programs that are dwarfed by Chavez's initiatives in the region. The "OPEC for ethanol" that the president is expected to create today with Lula won't actually open the U.S. market to Brazilian ethanol, and as a result it will accomplish little.

Brazil's sugar-based ethanol is more energy efficient and far cheaper to produce than U.S. corn-based ethanol, yet we impose a steep tariff on the Brazilian product to protect domestic corn growers and ethanol producers. The damage wrought by this policy is enormous. It raises consumer prices for all corn products, sabotages long-overdue attempts to move away from dirty fossil fuels and poisons the U.S. relationship with Latin America.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-brazil08mar08,1,3681849.story?coll=la-news-a_section



Cher