Ethanol B.S.

Part of El Presidente's visit to South America is to promote an increase in bio-fuel production with Brazil:

They said that increasing bio-fuel use would lead to more jobs, a cleaner environment and less dependence on oil.

'We see the bright and real potential for our citizens being able to use alternative sources of energy that will promote the common good,' Mr Bush said.

Together with the US, Brazil produces about 70% of the world's ethanol, a bio-fuel made from sugar cane or corn.

But activists say sugar cane cultivation is water intensive and responsible for stripping the Amazon rainforest.

They also say the ethanol production process is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful families or corporations.

But aside from the environmental or corporate issues surrounding this argument, let's focus on the real issue:

It's bullshit.

No congressman or senator from a rural state will support lifting the tariffs or corn subsidies that would make Brazilian ethanol make any financial sense. ADM will never let anything happen to their potential market. And Coke will never taste like it used to for all the same reasons. (Read this informative article.)

Bush's team knows how heavily politicized corn production is, and that's why they feel safe getting on a stage with Brazil and making these promises. My thinking: Other than trying to make nice with environmentalists, this BS is Bush's way of telling Hugo Chavez, "We don't need your Venezuelan oil, so nanny-nanny-boo-boo," without having to change anything going on in the United States. Smooth move. It amounts to an empty promise, and Bush knows it's an empty promise.

Incidentally, corn is actually a poor source of ethanol compared to sugarcane. Source.