While Washington, D.C. is flailing in the folly of federal ethanol policy, Texas has stepped forward with much-needed criticism of, and called for relief from, the feds’ misguided food-for-fuel policy.
Not shying away from continuing in the business of picking winners and losers, President Bush recently signed into law the 2007 energy act, mandating the use of 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022 – a roughly five-fold increase from the levels at the time of the law’s passage. The result: loss of crop land, food prices greater than would have otherwise been, global food riots, and potentially higher amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (for those of you who feel oxygen’s counterpart is a bad thing).
Fighting back are Texas’ Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Citing the disproportionate damage the federal ethanol mandate will inflict on Texas’ economy, Perry recently petitioned the EPA for a 1-year reprieve from the mandate. Hutchinson introduced a bill seeking a freeze in the mandates, winning the support of, among other colleagues, U.S. Sen. John McCain.
Time will tell how these responsible actions play out. In the meantime, at least some are talking some sense on the topic of ethanol.
– Drew Thornley