Congressman Boswell and his
campaign have criticized Ed on ethanol.
Appearing on Iowa Press on 2/29/08, Congressman
Boswell said of Ed, “He thought ethanol was a
myth.” This is a reference to a letter to the
editor that Ed wrote to The
Christian Science Monitor that was
published 3/24/93. Of course, Ed didn’t say
that ethanol is a myth. He referred to “the
ethanol myth” – arguing that it was not the
solution that some believed it to
be.
Ed wrote: “the verdict on its
quality from an environmental perspective is
still out….” And now the verdict is coming in,
and it confirms the worries Ed expressed over
15 years ago. A review of the scientific
literature was published in an article, “How
Green Are Biofuels?”, published in the 1/4/08
issue of Science. The authors show that
corn-based ethanol has a greater aggregate
environmental cost than
gasoline.
A freeze on
the ethanol mandate: During an
interview at The Des Moines Register on 5/14/08,
Ed was asked what he thought of a proposed
freeze of the ethanol mandate. Ed hadn’t seen
the bill, so he said he didn’t know but would
get back to the reporter. Ed sent his answer to
the report later that afternoon, well before
the reporter’s deadline, but the reporter
didn’t receive the message before filing his
story.
After looking into the matter, Ed
learned that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson and
a group of Republican Senators were proposing
that the mandate for corn-based ethanol be
frozen at 2008 levels (nine billion gallons a
year), because they believe the corn-based
ethanol mandate is responsible for higher food
prices.
Ed wrote to the reporter that he
opposes the freeze, agreeing with Senators
Harkin and Grassley that this is a simplistic
and misleading analysis of the problem, and
point to other factors responsible for higher
food prices – the weak dollar, which is also
partly responsible for higher oil and gas
prices; the cost of transporting food, which
rises along with fuel prices; and increased
food demand in Asian countries. He said the
proposed freeze may be politically satisfying
to some, but it doesn’t fix
anything.
But Ed still believes, as he did
in 1993, that corn-based ethanol is not a
long-term solution.
Ed also told the reporter that one
of the features he likes in the new farm bill
is its move toward cellulosic ethanol
production. Ed is interested in cellulosic that
uses perennials such as switchgrass, not the
non-food parts of corn such as the corn stocks,
husks, and cobs, as using those would strip the
fields of valuable nutrients and allow the soil
to erode in the winter.
As we have advanced in out
technical knowledge of ethanol production,
we’ve discovered new challenges that need to be
addressed. These challenges need to be taken
seriously, but they don’t negate the importance
of weaning us off of oil, especially foreign
oil.