Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Vilsack, like Obama, supports ethanol, and frankly anyone who isn’t on the dole of some agribusiness or other can see that ethanol is an absurd idea.”

From Sfgate.com: “Vilsack, like Obama, supports ethanol, and frankly anyone who isn’t on the dole of some agribusiness or other can see that ethanol is an absurd idea. In fact, it’s hard to find a worse political idea, and that’s saying a lot. For starters, it takes almost a gallon of oil to make a gallon of ethanol. The corn-based fuel contributed to a dangerous spike in food prices that only the global economic slowdown has abated, and it has pushed other common U.S. staples such as soy into newly converted cropland in the Amazon rainforest.”

From Southwest Farm Press: “Thirty-five years ago this month, President Richard Nixon declared the country would be energy independent in a mere seven years. Obviously, that didn’t work out, but economist Joe Outlaw says it wasn’t a bad idea then and still isn’t. “It’s easy for people to be cynical — ‘Energy independent? We can’t do that’…“At the end of the day, I’m an economist. Economics matter, but I’m not going to try and convert the rest of you. It doesn’t matter if I like ethanol or biodiesel or the people producing it. If they can’t make money doing it, they won’t be in (the business) for long.” When the economics turn south, as they did with biodiesel recently, “people say, ‘Well, this is fine, but I’m not going to lose money on every gallon I make.’ They’ll sit back for a while and come back when the price moves back in their favor.” Even in such an environment don’t be dissuaded, cautioned the economist. Biofuels, in some form, are here to stay.”

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