The Conservatives’ “Most Expensive Environmental Program”

Ah, the things you learn…

The Conservatives pledged in the last federal election to make all fuel contain five per cent biofuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel, by 2010.
A newly-passed law does just that.

At $2.2-billion, federal support for Canadian biofuels is the government’s most expensive environmental program.

Harper last week appointed Kory Teneycke, the former executive director of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, as his new communications director.

The information about the biofuels boondoogle was known of course, but I wasn’t aware of Teneycke’s connection to the CRFA.

How sad is it that a $2.2 billion subsidy for the biofuel industry “is the government’s most expensive environmental program”?

Gee, wouldn’t it have been nice if instead of fatuously noting that “Some biofuels are derived from corn, wheat and straw,” our wretchedly biased “liberal media” had perhaps referenced the 2007 study by Frederic Forge of the parliamentary library’s science and technology division:

The federal government’s massive investments in biofuels will be of little benefit in cutting dependence on fossil fuels or reducing greenhouse emissions, suggests a study by the Library of Parliament.

The report casts doubt on one of the biggest green initiatives in the Conservative budget – a $1.5-billion investment over seven years to promote renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol.

Forge’s report stated that regulations to promote biofuels will have a “relatively minor impact” on reducing greenhouse emissions across Canada. “In fact, if 10 per cent of the fuel used were corn-based ethanol (in other words, if the E-10 blend were used in all vehicles) Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions would drop by approximately one per cent,” said the study.