Plans for a greener White House

As the presidential election draws nearer, Obama and McCain’s views on biofuels have been shoved under the microscope. Obama has taken some heat for his support of corn ethanol, with some suggesting that his more rural Illinois constituents, or Monsanto and other such agribusiness interests, are wearing him like a glove. Opinion sways back and forth on which entity is controlling him, which is odd because it logically can’t be both. And all this comes despite his preference for “cellulosic ethanol and other types of biomass-derived fuels.” He’s also pledged $150 billion and 10 years towards continuing renewable energy research, even though his specific goals are years in coming and won’t account for much of the energy market at first.

McCain’s approach is different; he favors eliminating ethanol subsidies and a closer relationship with Brazil’s booming sugarcane ethanol industry; sugarcane is a more efficient source of fuel than corn. It’ll work out great until they run out of rainforest and turn the entire country into an antebellum plantation. Beyond that, McCain’s decided to hang his hat on the electric car, offering $300 million “for a car battery that can ‘leapfrog’ existing technologies,” but he doesn’t offer additional tax incentives or research grants like Obama has.

So both plans have some faults - we prefer Obama’s for the time being - but it’s a good sign that each candidate is planning proactive steps towards biofuel development. Time can only tell what shifts in our fuel sources will do to the nation’s consumption, not to mention our political cartoon output.