What will an Obama presidency mean for ethanol and other biofuels?

In August of 2007, when no one was really expecting him to even get the Democratic nomination, Obama headlined the grand opening of VeraSun’s Charles City, Iowa ethanol plant. At the time he said that ethanol “ultimately helps our national security because right now we’re sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth, and makes it more difficult for us to shape a foreign policy that is intelligent and is creating security for the long term.”

About a month ago, Obama granted an interview to farm brodcaster Stewart Doan with Agri-Pulse who quizzed him on a number of agricultural issues, including biofuels. “I’ve been a strong supporter of biofuels in the past and a Renewable Fuels Standard,” Obama said. “What I do believe though is, given the pressure that we’re seeing on food crops and how that’s affecting feed prices, I do think that it is important for us to recognize that we need to move into things like switchgrass and cellulosic ethanol and we need to work with farmers to figure out how can we produce ethanol from non-food sources that would allow farmers to increase their incomes, would continue to improve rural economies, would help us with our dependence on foreign oil and would reduce climate change, but would not put so much pressure on feed prices.”

Listen to the Agri-Pulse interview with Obama here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/doan-obama.mp3]