The Times, They Are A-Changin'

In George Bush's America, ethanol was the be-all and end-all to the U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Never mind the naysayers (which even included the EPA itself for awhile), ethanol was going to save the U.S. and save the farmers as well. In Bush's world, the sky wasn't blue, it was the golden colour of corn.

With each passing day, those in charge are being pinched by the cold touch of reality and waking up from their dream.

This past week, 24 Republican senators, including presidential hopeful John McCain, wrote to the EPA urging it to repeal or roll back its ethanol output targets. Two weeks ago, lawmakers tentatively agreed on a bill that would scale back the tax subsidy on corn ethanol from 51 cents to 45 cents a gallon. Yes, that's right, 51 cents of taxpayers' money in the U.S. is subsidizing every gallon of ethanol production.

Over the past two weeks, shares prices for several major ethanol producers have dropped as much as 19 percent.

While the political climate has radically shifted, with several senators and all three presidential candidates reconsidering their position on ethanol, the top 10 ethanol-producing states account for half of the electoral votes needed to win the White House.

Let's see what can be done to wake them from their dream before it's too late.