Somebody’s been sniffing ethanol
Presidential candidates always fawn over Iowa voters in advance of primary season, but this time around they are playing up the state’s affinity for ethanol. Who can blame them? Ethanol production is worth $2.5 billion to the Hawkeye state, and with politicians far and wide embracing alternative fuel technologies, no one wants to be outdone in singing the praises of the magic corn juice. For instance, Hillary Clinton said in a recent visit that ethanol is “a perfect example” of how we can wean ourselves from foreign oil. Of course, she has voted against measures promoting ethanol production not once, not twice, but 17 times during her six years in the Senate.

Why the change of heart? Environmental issues will loom large in the next presidential contest, and the President’s call to seek alternative fuel technologies has been interpreted by tree huggers to mean that we can power our millions of automobiles on corn by the end of the next decade. If it sounds like a dream, that’s because it is. If we are to cut gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next ten years, we would have to increase ethanol production by 35 billion gallons each year to meet demand. If all the corn grown in the United States were converted to ethanol, we still wouldn’t have enough to meet this figure. What’s more, where will the billions of dollars come from to convert the fuel delivery infrastructure—refineries, pipelines, fueling stations—over to ethanol delivery? Taxes, taxes, taxes.