The politics of ethanol outshine its costs

.."Boosting ethanol production is the political equivalent of motherhood and apple pie these days. Politicians on both sides of the aisle as well as presidential candidates eager to do well in Iowa, the nation's No. 1 ethanol-producing state, are behind the measure, unglamorously named the "Renewable Fuels Standard." The RFS, part of the energy bill in the Senate, is so popular that it may be enough to ram through energy legislation this year, despite bitter disagreements over other parts of the bills...

Much of the criticism targets today's corn-based variety. But if companies can figure out inexpensive ways to turn other biomass into ethanol, then the new fuel could create an environmentally friendlier alternative to fossil fuels. The new RFS would cap corn-based ethanol incentives at 15 billion gallons by 2015 – the remaining 21 billion gallons would be "advanced biofuels," primarily ethanol made from switch grass and other materials...

Right now... the primary RFS requirement is a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions – not enough to curb climate change very much. But congressional leaders are said to be considering a required 50 percent cut in greenhouse emissions.

Such a reduction would not come cheaply. Already, the federal government pays 51 cents to oil companies for every gallon of ethanol they blend into gasoline at a cost of about $6 billion annually, according to a new study by Earth Track, a Boston-based energy-consulting firm. That cost will rise to $14 billion by 2014 under current law, the study says. With the new RFS, those costs would leap "tens of billions per year above these levels."