Another Front in the Ethanol War

Ethanol appears to have won the opening skirmish of an important battle at CARB over the LCFS, but is it about to lose the war? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama administration is about to land a body blow on the heavily subsidized & politicized biofuel.

Obama is set to call for efforts to increase the production and availability of ethanol through federal loan guarantees designed to stimulate construction of more biofuel refineries-- that's good for ethanol.

However, in taking a page out of the early CARB playbook, the President will also call for holding ethanol responsible for its total carbon footprint by "measuring the greenhouse-gas emissions associated with biofuel production -- including emissions that result overseas when farmers world-wide respond to higher food prices by converting forest and grassland to cropland. "

That's bad for ethanol and eerily reminiscent of the fight the industry has on its hands in Sacramento.

Out of LUC: Team Obama Prepares Ethanol Smackdown [Environmental Capital (Wall Street Journal)