Examples of pollution problems cause by ethanol plants:Ethanol Plants Pose Pollution Challenge (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Ethanol Plant Assessed Penalty For Air Emissions Violations (Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency)Ethanol Plant Raising A Stink (The NorthWestern, Wisconsin)
It is a well-known fact that ethanol plants release substantial amounts of air pollution. As the articles above illustrate, there have been numerous incidents where the plants have violated their air pollution permits. But even when operated under licensing compliance, ethanol plants emit many tons of particulate organic matter (POM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the local environment. An increasing body of evidence strongly suggests that such pollution can have serious local health effects, despite the fact that the plants might be operating legally.
Okay, let's see if we have this right. Tax payers pay 1 billion dollars a year in corporate welfare to the likes of ADM via ethanol tax subsidies. However, the best science now shows that the primary justification for ethanol, to reduce air pollution, cannot be supported. So it doesn't clean up the urban areas where reformulated gas is required, plus it pollutes the rural areas where the plants are. Make sense to you?