Because of federal and state mandates for clean air, ethanol has raised the price of corn at least $2 per bushel and has also supported both wheat and soybeans.
Ethanol has created jobs and provided another market for corn. The profits from the ethanol plants have added extra income to farmers and rural communities.
The Republican platform this year states,"The U.S. government should end mandates for ethanol." John McCain has consistently voted against ethanol and has said he wants to repeal the renewable fuels standards. McCain also wants to eliminate tariffs on ethanol imported from other countries such as Brazil. McCain voted against the 2008 Farm Bill and said if he were president, he would veto it in a New York minute.
Harold Beach, a farmer and investor in ethanol plants from Shelby County stated, "John McCain with an executive order could overturn the reformulated fuel standard, which requires oil companies to blend ethanol as an oxygenate to meet clean air standards." Beach also stated, "Oil companies will not voluntarily blend fuel unless forced to do so because it is not their product."
I don't think that it takes a rocket scientist to figure out the potential danger to farmer-owned ethanol plants, American industry, renewable fuels, grain prices, balance of trade and rural America if McCain is elected president.