Obradovich: Obama needs to speak up about ethanol

A Better Iowa
8:53 AM, August 16, 2012


President Obama, during his three-day bus tour of Iowa, mocked Republican Mitt Romney for saying you can’t put a windmill on top of your car.

Obama was pressing his point that he supports tax breaks for wind energy and Romney doesn’t. But Obama didn’t say anything about that other Iowa-grown, renewable fuel that Romney and just about everybody else can put in their cars.

Ethanol used to be one of the few things every politician had to talk about in Iowa. But this summer, it’s an uncomfortable subject. Drought has heightened the ongoing “food versus fuel” debate. Corn ethanol has long drawn the criticism that you shouldn’t put corn in gas tanks when there are hungry bellies to fill.

Ethanol has raised the demand for corn and driven up prices. The drought adds scarcity to the mix, pushing prices even higher. That’s great for farmers who have a decent crop to sell. It’s not so great for those who have to buy it for food for their livestock.

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