Wall Street Journal crows as King Ethanol struggles for congressional support of increased mandate

The Wall Street Journal editorialized on flagging support for ethanol mandates and subsidies.

The editorial noted with approval Texas Senator John Cornyn’s comment that his efforts to block a conference to resolve differences between the Senate and House energy bills were having the desired effect. The Texas Senators oppose new oil taxes in the House bill.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said “There’s a real urgency. We’ve seen plants that are under construction being stopped. We’ve seen plants that have ceased operating because margins are too thin.”

The ethanol industry will produce as much as 7.5 billion gallons in 2007 but the current mandate calls for only 4.6 billion gallons to be blended with gasoline, and oil companies make lower profits on blended fuels.

The Wall Street Jounral slammed ethanol subsidies in a recent editorial. The article hit hard on the question of water supply. “Even in Iowa, which enjoys abundant rainfall, there are no guarantees that supply can meet the new demand…..biofuels like ethanol are highly inefficient….growing the corn to produce ethanol means clearing land and killing animals on a massive scale, or converting land from food production to fuel production….Writing in Science magazine, Renton Righelato and Dominick Spracklen estimate that in order to replace just 10% of gasoline and diesel consumption, the U.S. would need to convert a full 43% of its cropland to ethanol production….The alternative approach — clearing wilderness — would mean more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than simply sticking with gasoline, because the CO2-munching trees cut down to make way for King Ethanol absorb more emissions than ethanol saves.”

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