How Green Was My Candidate?

The Times front-pages (below the fold) and near Obama-basher describing how his is beholden to the domestic ethanol agribusiness interests.  Surprised?  Illinios is the second-largest corn producer and neighboring Iowa hosts the first prominent Presidential caucus, so what might one expect?  The bottom-line, which the Times nearly articulates - McCain makes more sense on ethanol.

So, why didn't this article score as a full basher? Well, the Times downplays the absurdity of domestic corn-based ethanol, despite their previous reporting on the subject.  The current consensus is that US corn-based ethanol raises total emissions of greenhouse gases and is contributing to global food scarcity by diverting food corn and cropland from other uses.  Yet here is how the Times tackles that today:

Mr. Obama, in contrast [with John McCain], favors the subsidies, some of which end up in the hands of the same oil companies he says should be subjected to a windfall profits tax. In the name of helping the United States build “energy independence,” he also supports the tariff, which some economists say may well be illegal under the World Trade Organization’s rules but which his advisers say is not.

Many economists, consumer advocates, environmental experts and tax groups have been critical of corn ethanol programs as a boondoggle that benefits agribusiness conglomerates more than small farmers. Those complaints have intensified recently as corn prices have risen sharply in tandem with oil prices and corn normally used for food stock has been diverted to ethanol production.

“If you want to take some of the pressure off this market, the obvious thing to do is lower that tariff and let some Brazilian ethanol come in,” said C. Ford Runge, an economist specializing in commodities and trade policy at the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Minnesota. “But one of the fundamental reasons biofuels policy is so out of whack with markets and reality is that interest group politics have been so dominant in the construction of the subsidies that support it.”

Corn ethanol generates less than two units of energy for every unit of energy used to produce it, while the energy ratio for sugar cane is more than 8 to 1. With lower production costs and cheaper land prices in the tropical countries where it is grown, sugar cane is a more efficient source.

Well, yes - it is apparently true true that "Corn ethanol generates less than two units of energy for every unit of energy used to produce it" - per this bullish Dept of Energy pamphlet, ethanol is a net positive, taking .78 BTU of fossil fuels to deliver 1 BTU of ethanol.  The pamphlet also notes that other studies show corn ethanol to be a net neutral or even negative energy source.

Andrew Stuttaford notes Obama's odd notion that the US has a vital interest in securing its energy independence from Brazil; Karl at Team Protein has more on Obama's lobbyist ties.

Comments

[BumperStickerist]

I reckon it's time to bioengineer corn (again).

What's needed is a fist-sized ear of corn with twice the yield that uses 1/2 the water, is disease and pest resistant, and can be used to make a nice tortilla or corn chowder in a pinch.

But tinkering with nature would, no doubt, be "bad".

[clarice]

I son't know that it's really worse to know that he is just a cash and carry type Chicago poll who can be bought off than a doctrinaire socialist who can't be.

[JM Hanes]

BumperStickerist: Coming soon, CAFE standards for corn.

[Appalled]

clarice:

Wasn't David Brooks just wrestling with that issue a few columns ago?

[Soylent Red]

For those of you in the south...

Why haven't we figured out how to make ethanol from kudzu? It's all over the place and good for nothing else.

And if you take my idea and become a bajillionaire, I expect a kickback.

[Appalled]

Solyent:

We've thought of it:

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/shared/news/stories/2008/06/KUDZU_POWER20_AUS.html

[Neo]

I really pretty scary when the poltical establishment is so locked into the "bad forks in the road" when it comes to clean air (and it's dying brother AGW).

Between the unforeseen hit to world food supply that bio-fuels have generated and the beating that the predictions, let alone the science, of the IPCC that have done so badly, it's a wonder that any politician worth their salt is still on this path save two possible explanations.

1) they are out of touch with current science

2) they are in the tank with the investors of one of the "emerging" technologies

Both of these are bad.

[clarice]

I think he was, appalled, but I wanted to put it into an even simpler formulation:He can be bought.

[JM Hanes]

While Obama's decision to reject public financing may not resonate deeply with the electorate, killing that particular MSM sacred cow may cost him a chunk of his allotted 15 point edge. I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when buyer's remorse set in; this was the moment the Obama wave crested and began to fall; this was the moment that a sick and disabled press began to realize that Obama simply made no sense. Let the healing begin.

[Rick Ballard]

"He can be bought."

Hey - that's almost as bad as calling him a coward just because he chose to serve his country by organizing collectives to force the redistribution of wealth from the productive to the nonproductive rather than do a stint in uniform. There's no proof that he can be "bought", there is only rather strong evidence that he can be rented for indefinite periods at very moderate rates.

[Soylent Red]

We've thought of it

Dammit. I was in Vicksburg last summer looking out on the big fields of kudzu thinking about it as an alternate to the switchgrass input.

Another case of being a day late and dollar short on becoming fabulously wealthy.

[LindaK]

THe only folks who care about BO's decision to opt out of public financing are the Republicans and journalists. However, despite Daschle and Richardson propping up their boy on Sunday talk on his flip flop, I think it'll cost BO a few points with MSM. Daschle sounded particularly disingenuous -- even for him -- when rationalizing BO's decision. McCain's better off sticking with drill now than trying to poke holes in BO over campaign finance. Carly Fiorina neatly showed up Bill Richardson for the boob he is.

[clarice]

IIRC kudzu was an imported plant, nrought to the south for some beneficient reason I've now forgotten--maybe to replenish the soil harmed by cotton growing.

[clarice]

***Brought****

[Jane]

While Obama's decision to reject public financing may not resonate deeply with the electorate, killing that particular MSM sacred cow may cost him a chunk of his allotted 15 point edge. I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when buyer's remorse set in; this was the moment the Obama wave crested and began to fall; this was the moment that a sick and disabled press began to realize that Obama simply made no sense.

Geez JMH I was just saying exactly the same thing with one - "caveat". It's true the MSM appears to have a fleck of dust in their eye over the realization that the Messiah is mortal but I think what has/will turn the tide for the electorate is drilling.

I note that just today Obama opened the door for nuclear power, something he was opposed to yesterday, so he's trying to adjust. Regardless of the media adoration or lack thereof, taking that $100 bill out of your wallet to fill up the tank has focused the mind of the electorate. Perhaps the media is just looking for an excuse to follow along.

[Soylent Red]

I know you can make wine out of the leaves, which directed my train of thought toward ethanol. Amongst other things.

I'm pretty sure that anything with fibrous cellulose can be converted. I know they are doing it with switchgrass, and it converts at a more favorable rate than corn. It follows that kudzu could work.

[clarice]

Wiki has a lot about kudzu and its many medicinal uses and uses as a food in Asia..Here's its history in the US:
"Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion as above, and the Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years.

However, it would soon be discovered that the southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control — hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, temperate winters with few hard freezes (kudzu cannot tolerate low freezing temperatures that bring the frost line down through its entire root system, a rare occurrence in this region), and no natural predators. As such, the once-promoted plant was named a pest weed by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1953"

[Porchlight]

Soylent, were you visiting the Military Park in Vicksburg? I went with my parents and brother a few years ago. It pretty much blew my mind.

[Neo]

There's no proof that he can be "bought", there is only rather strong evidence that he can be rented for indefinite periods at very moderate rates.

That fits in with ..

Jeffrey Pelt Obama: Listen, I'm a politician which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops. But it also means I keep my options open.

[Appalled]

According to the ajc article, kudzu can yield as much ethanol from its root as can be yielded from corn. Neither is as good as sugar.

Of course, any car running on kudzu-nol will change from a prissy little Prius to big honkin Dodge truck with a Nascar bumpersticker and a gun rack and a strange flowery exhaust that smells of grape soda. (Kudzu blossoms have a rather potent smell)

[clarice]

HEH

[Soylent Red]

Yep Porch. One of the best site I've been to.

City of Vicksburg is pretty swell too.

[Soylent Red]

Appalled:

Could be an alternative to high priced arugula as well.

[Neo]

This from JULY 27, 2006 ..

Take U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. In testimony last spring before a subcommittee dealing with clean air and climate issues, the freshman senator echoed the arguments of the pro-nuclear lobby.
“As Congress considers policies to address air quality and the deleterious effects of carbon emissions on the global ecosystem,” Obama testified, “it is reasonable — and realistic — for nuclear power to remain on the table for consideration.”
At the same time, Obama has emerged as a leading voice for renewable energy sources — just like his senior colleague U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The two Democrats have been vocal boosters of subsidies to boost ethanol production.

Exactly where is he changing his mind ?

[Neo]

Among them is Chicago-based Exelon Corp., which is moving forward with plans for a second reactor in Clinton, less than 60 miles from Springfield.

Isn't Ayers father on the board or something (?) with Exelon, who probably operates more nuclear plants in the US than any other company ?

[Neo]

Thomas G. Ayers, president of ComEd, began bringing in low-sulfur coal from Montana, cutting sulfur emissions by 60 percent by 1973. That same year, he was elected chairman and CEO of ComEd. ..

1994: PE adopts the name PECO Energy Company; ComEd becomes part of a new holding company, Unicom Corporation.
2000: PECO and Unicom merge to form Exelon Corporation.

[Neo]

Yea, it's the same Thomas Ayers, who died last year, that was William Ayers father.

[PeterUK]

Do not forget the power of the liberal left and the greens.This can be harnessed.Put them on treadmill,have them pulling rickshaws,give them jobs as punkah wallahs.Endless free energy,all for a latte lite and organic tofu.
They might not do it for you or America,but they will do it for Gaia.

[Porchlight]

Vicksburg is a neat town. They don't appear to have gotten over the siege yet, but that's part of why it's so compelling.

[Neo]

They are getting jitty over at HotAir as it does look exceptionally likely that Justice Scalia is writing the principal opinion for the Court in Heller, the D.C. guns case, that appears to be coming tomorrow.

[RichatUF]

Regardless of the media adoration or lack thereof, taking that $100 bill out of your wallet...

I read this and thought...What do you expect when you take a $100 out of your wallet and drag it around Chicago...

Neo-

Axelrod is also tied to Exelon through his pr firm (did a bit of astroturfing for them).

[Neo]

While the publisher promised a "comprehensive, factual look at Obama", the new book's subtitle is: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favourite Candidate.

I always love these stories about a book, a movie, etc that will define the election.
Here's to hoping (and changing).

[JM Hanes]

Jane/Neo:

I don't think saying "it's reasonable -- and realistic -- for nuclear power to remain on the table for consideration" exactly qualifies as echoing the arguments of the pro-nuclear lobby. That's about as non-committal as keeping your options open gets -- especially coming from a "vocal booster" of ethanol subsidies. In normal conversation, hearing someone say "I'll think about it" is not generally an encouraging sign. It is, however, precisely the kind of thing I had in mind last week when I predicted that no one has done more to promote nuclear energy than Obama.

Along the same lines, I'd love to see McCain take a clip from the ad Obama aired in North Carolina where he took credit for lobbying reform legislation. That's the bill he originally sponsored with McCain and then backed out of, which occasioned McCain's famous letter of reproof! Considering what a hot button issue Obama has made of lobbyists, pointing that out dramatically seems like a no brainer.

[Neo]

RichatUF: Yea .. I forgot about that "grassroots" (I hate that term even more than "issues") operation that Axelrod created out of whole cloth.

[Neo]

Follow the link, that was the Ilinois Times back in 2006 saying Obama "echoed the arguments of the pro-nuclear lobby", long before Obama announced for POTUS.

[Neo]

Don't get me wrong here. I live 5 miles (upwind) from a nuclear plant owned by Exelon. My brother, who used to work for Ralph Nader, got a journalism award from the nuclear industries association for a series on the plant just before it started up. We both pretty much agree that nuclear is part of the future.

But it is interesting to note exactly who can rent Obama for indefinite periods at very moderate rates.

In this case, it seems that all politics are local .. Illinois based at least .. with Exelon/nuclear and ethanol.

[glasater]

Jim Cramer mentioned the NYT's article on BHO and ethanol on CNBC's show "Street Signs" hosted by Erin Burnett.

They both talked about the ethanol "mafia" and one doesn't dare cross that crew.

[PeterUK]

A Toyota Kudzu sounds cool,not as wimpy as a Prius.

[Ralph L]

My boss, who follows the grain markets, says the high price of corn may bankrupt some of the ethanol companies, so there likely won't be the capacity for the future mandates.

[Rocco]

Go figure

[James Thompson]

a Prius

Every time I see that word I think "Priapsis".

Which would really apply more to the people who drive them.

[Soylent Red]

I was just gonna say that James

[Charlie (Colorado)]

IIRC kudzu was an imported plant, brought to the south for some beneficent reason I've now forgotten--maybe to replenish the soil harmed by cotton growing.

Cattle feed.

It's also called "arrowroot" by the way, and why we don't sell the arrowroot starch I've never understood.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Every time I see that word I think "Priapsis".

After that, I need a stiff one.

[clarice]

There is commercial arrowroot starch, Charlie. I use it occasionally in cooking--it thickens sauces.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Rocco, go look down a thread or two, I just went through that same article with eµ.

The guy who wrote the article basically needs a spell corrector to *spell* phosphorus. We're not running out (there's only around a quintillion metric tonnes in the Earth's crust). What is running out is known sources of phosphate rock for the current commercial processes for making phosphate fertilizers.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

There is commercial arrowroot starch, Charlie. I use it occasionally in cooking--it thickens sauces.

That's the stuff. It comes from kudzu roots.

Oh, well, okay, Wikipedia says kudzu (kuzu) root is "japanese arrowroot".

[MikeS]

I think biodiesel is much more practical than ethanol.
The jatropha plant produces about 10 times as much fuel per acre as corn. With a little genetic engineering who knows?

[ben]

"I don't know that it's really worse to know that he is just a cash and carry type Chicago poll who can be bought off than a doctrinaire socialist who can't be."

Clarice, well said, let's hope people decide they really don't want either one.

[Rocco]

Thank you Charlie, I'll check it out.