To the editor:

Monday’s New York Times editorial opposes farm subsidies in a time of rising food prices. It focuses on the role of biofuels in the increases.

According to the editorial, “The International Monetary Fund estimated that biofuels – mainly American corn ethanol – accounted for almost half the growth in worldwide demand for major food crops last year. About a third of this country’s corn crop will go to ethanol this year.”

Recent ads in the Journal-World compare the role of oil and ethanol in rising food prices and emphasize the advantages of ethanol over petroleum fuels.

As public policy advice, the ads make the wrong comparison. They compare two fuels that feed our dependence on the internal combustion engine (ICE). They would do better to compare ICE technology with electric.

Electric motors offer far higher energy efficiency, greater safety, zero emissions and can be powered by wind and solar energy. Some electric vehicles today are doing just that. Their low operating and near-zero maintenance costs offset their initial high price, itself amenable to mass production. And they don’t divert food to fuel use.

The ICE age is over. We should end oil and ethanol subsidies in favor of less harmful alternatives.

Paul Fairchild,

Lawrence