The Behind-the-Scenes Struggle Over Ethanol

U.S. News & World Report

Obama supports biofuels, but competing interests are fighting over the course of ethanol policy
By Kent Garber
Posted November 11, 2008

In preparation for what promises to be a heated debate over biofuels under the Obama administration, the much-maligned ethanol industry is pushing to regain some of its lost luster.

Today, in the latest thrust of a lobbying war raging in Washington and across much of the country, four of the nation's largest ethanol producers publicly launched a new organization, Growth Energy, to offer a "fresh, aggressive new voice in the energy debate."

The announcement clearly represents the latest, most visible attempt by ethanol backers to discount critics who have blamed corn-based fuels for rising food prices—"a sham cooked up by the food industry," according to one member. But one week after the election, it also is just one of several efforts—public and private—the ethanol industry is undertaking as it works to position itself favorably with a new Congress and a new president.

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