Ethanol’s political grip on the Plains — where never is heard a discouraging word

by Stuart Hampton, October 18th, 2007, 5:40 am

With the Iowa Caucuses just around the corner, most presidential candidates are falling over themselves to prove their pro-ethanol bonafides to the corn growing voters of the Hawkeye State, a place where more than 75% of all gasoline sold is a 10% ethanol-blend. Ethanol producers dot the landscape of the Great Plains (Iowa alone has 28 ethanol refineries and 19 under construction or expansion), from corporate giants Archer Midland Daniels and Cargill to smaller cooperatives (such as Hawkeye Holdings, Little Sioux Corn Processors, and Northern Growers. This rural industrial boom has provided corn farmers with locally heavy consumption and a good price for their corn crops.

Organic fuel, less reliance on foreign oil, cleaner air, improved local economies, happy farmers. Who could object to that?

Lots of people. For instance:

• The poorer sections of Mexico — In January some 75,000 people took to the street to protest the up to 50% increase in tortilla prices brought on by the increasing use of corn for ethanol.  With more than 20% of the US corn supply going to ethanol production, corn prices rapidly spiked.
• American consumers — The ones that eat steak and ice cream, anyway. The rise in corn prices has made steak très expensive and driven up the cost of ice cream and many other prepared foods that use corn.
• Environmentalists — It takes more energy than is used to grow and harvest the corn to distill it into ethanol. The production leads to a larger carbon footprint, not a smaller one.
• Pipeline companies — Pipeline transportation is far cheaper than using trucks, trains, or barges, but piping ethanol poses problems. Ethanol, with its higher solvent properties, can contaminate a mixed shipment of petroleum products and, as such, is not viable for pipeline transportation. Trucking becomes the alternative method of transportation, and trucks use diesel. More energy use, more foreign oil use, more pollution.
• Automakers — Some car makers believe that ethanol gums up the works. One reason that ethanol/petroleum blends have not gone beyond 10% ethanol in most states is the concern about ethanol’s effect on engine fuel systems — the floats, the gaskets, hoses, etc.

But when the presidential candidates come to close the deal (secure the votes of their constituents) at the Iowa Caucuses, don’t expect to hear the voices of ethanol naysayers. Corn and ethanol are good for Iowa’s farmers, and Iowa’s rural votes are good for politicians aspiring to become the next president.