ethanol

McCain flip-flops on ethanol

John McCain tries to explain his flagrant flip-flop on ethanol: (via Hugg)

Corn ethanol politics

I really don't have anything to add, so here are some excerpts from Motley Fool telling it like it is:

My theory is that the political support for massive biofuel expansion comes down to securing constituents' votes. Politicians know they can benefit politically from selling the benefits of biofuels ... and they also know there's too much at stake politically to back away from the issue. What states' politicians stand to benefit the most from backing biofuel? For starters, we can look at the top 10 ethanol-producing states, [by millions of gallons]:

(Thanks KO)

The weather will matter more and more

Energy dependence seems to be the topic of the day, or at least the last two days. David Roberts posted a link yesterday to an eye-opening article about the surge of interest among the Amish of Ohio for solar PV panels. I had always assumed, wrongly, that the Amish eschewed electricity, period. Actually, they just don't like depending on the outside world.

Meanwhile, renewed violence in Nigeria, a major petroleum producer, is giving oil markets the jitters.

So is home-produced energy always better?

Bio Willie, make way for Jeff Parnell

Political songwriter Jeff Parnell has just composed a jaunty little ditty called "Subsidized Ethanol Blues." (Click on link to play.) As Parnell sings it: "Sacrifice the water and land, and what do you gain? Line the pockets of cronies, playing that subsidy game!"

The rest of the lyrics are found below the fold:

The logjam is breaking

It appears that after a long period of haggling — involving the bizarre tableau of Republican Ted Stevens pushing for tougher regulations — the Senate Commerce Committee is ready to cough up a bill that would raise CAFE standards to 35mpg by 2019 (35mpg across the fleet, including light trucks). The committee is expected to […]

Caveat

A few posts back I big-upped Jon Tester for killing the liquid coal mandate coal-state Republicans tried to attach to the Senate EPW energy bill (which passed committee last week). I should add, lest things get too darn cheery around here, that the bill itself is largely focused on boosting ethanol. And you know how […]

Biofuel environmental rating

People are slowly beginning to realize that not all biofuels are created equal. A group of UC-Berkeley researchers are proposing a five star fuel rating system:

The debate over whether biofuels like ethanol are better for the environment than fossil fuels has left many consumers confused and unsure where to fill their gas tanks.

Tell me about it. My guess is that these researchers use biodiesel and are hoping to put a few Stars on Thars, right next to the biodiesel sticker they already have. But what are the odds that after studying this topic in great detail they find that all crop-based biofuels being produced today are worse for the environment than fossil fuels? Trust me, true or not, that isn't going to happen.

Some miscellaneous but connected items

The daily news is never short of articles on biofuels these days, but these three caught my eye today.

A mixed bag

John McCain gave a major speech today in which he said that energy dependence and global warming are major threats to America’s future that urgently need to be addressed. The policy section started off with this great bit: Energy efficiency by using improved technology and practicing sensible habits in our homes, businesses and automobiles is […]