While farming communities have long been the biggest supporters of ethanol production, recent concerns about the fuel's effects on the environment and global food supply stir resistance even in rural areas. A recent article on MinnPost.com, a non-profit journalistic venture focusing on Minnesota, highlights examples local opposition to proposed ethanol plants.
Ron Way writes, "For the first time since corn ethanol's dazzling growth sprinkled billions of dollars and jobs – and fattened farmers' bank accounts – across rural Minnesota, a proposed facility near Eyota, Minn., has drawn opposition from local elected officials rather than the open-arms welcome that's greeted nearly all of the state's 18 plants." Increased legislative analysis of the environmental impact of plants, and the cancellation of two ethanol-plant projects in Minnesota are other signs of ethanol's waning appeal.
Opposition to ethanol comes from many sectors. Many global organizations say the production of biofuels is a primary cause of the global food shortage. Ethanol production uses much water, and can prompt farmers to take marginal land out of the Conservation Reserve Program to grow more corn. Others say that the the plants are just not worth it. High corn prices are "causing some [ethanol] producers to see less return on their investment, especially for facilities still paying down debt," and those who live near proposed plants worry about "air emissions, odor, noise, nighttime lights and water-consumption issues," Way writes. (Read more)
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