Alternate Alternatives
Dallas Morning News, October 16, 2007

There's no quarrel about this point: Americans need alternatives to gasoline if we're going to stem the flow of foreign oil and curb pollution in Dallas-Fort Worth and other major urban/suburban areas.

But there's no reason Washington needs to bet so heavily on corn-based ethanol as that alternative. Not when reports show that the supply of ethanol is so great, believe it or not, that there's a glut of it on the market.

The most telling statistic shows the average ethanol price plunging from about $2.50 a gallon at the end of last year to about $1.50 now.

There are numerous reasons for the supply-demand problem. One is the overproduction of corn. You can thank the handsome subsidies Washington pays farmers to grow corn for the fact that we are on track this year to yield the largest crop in U.S. history.

All that production has to go somewhere, and ethanol plants are a main destination.

Actually, the glut presents a wonderful opening. Congress now has a clear and compelling reason to revisit its policies toward this cleaner-burning but energy-intensive-to-produce fuel.

The Senate Agriculture Committee can get things going by paring back corn subsidies. The committee is preparing a five-year farm bill now. Some members won't want to change anything, but we hope committee Chairman Tom Harkin sticks to his convictions and takes a swing at government payments to grow corn.

That would be a nervy stance for an Iowa Democrat to take, but Mr. Harkin can draw strength from other farm-state senators – like Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Dick Lugar, R-Ind. – who also want to overhaul ineffective subsidies.

Smaller, entrepreneurial companies would be at Mr. Harkin's side, too, if he tried to shift money from corn subsidies to incentives for growing, say, switchgrass.

Companies like Earth Biofuels in Dallas are exploring new ways of producing ethanol. Switchgrass is one of the alternative-fuel sources that many entrepreneurs believe would prove superior to corn in lessening strain on natural resources. (For instance, corn's huge appetite for water is a real threat to our water supplies.)

The bottom line is the Senate Agriculture Committee has a compelling reason to encourage new ways to produce alternative fuels. The effort should start with taking money from shortsighted corn subsidies and investing it in incentives for switchgrass or other alternatives.

The current ethanol glut gives us an excellent opportunity to rethink our strategies.