The Corn Factor

In upscale Wellesley, MA, $3.14 is nothing compared to an average elementary school lunch. However, even Wellesley residents might think twice after discovering $3.14 is the latest average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Massachusetts. As of March 31, 2008, America has reached another record-breaking price for the average national cost of a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline: $3.287 Even in Wellesley, kids will need to learn how to take the bus.

So the question remains, what can Americans do? The answer lies in the emerging powerhouse market of biofuels, with the biggest contender for national demand being ethanol. Interestingly enough, just a year ago President Bush met with Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva to negotiate American investments in ethanol production. Finally, American government is recognizing and reacting to America’s long critiqued dangerous dependence on oil, especially foreign.

In the United States, ethanol production is corn-based, opposite to the use of sugar as an ethanol base as found in many Latin American and Caribbean countries. A sugar-based ethanol, such as in Brazil, is a cheaper and more efficient alternative to any corn-based ethanol. The Bush administration’s answer to spiking gasoline prices is to encourage the production and consumption of ethanol, not only domestically but also through a potential decrease of federal tariffs on foreign ethanol, made cheaply particularly in Brazil, the Caribbean and Central American countries.

Despite the noble intentions of the Bush administration, nothing seems to be getting done. The obstacle? The power and influence of the American Farm lobby, aka “the corn super power.” Protests from the American Farm lobby and Midwest politicians, such as Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, warn against the cutting of tariffs and foreign investment as “an undercut to American producers” and an illogical investment of American taxpayer dollars. On the other hand, many foreigners believe international ethanol negotiations and development to be universally beneficial. As Antonio Simões of the energy division of the Foreign Ministry of Brazil describes, “the production of energy will be democratized in the world, with 100 countries producing energy instead of just 15 or 20.”

What seems so bad about decreased American dependence on oil and cheaper transportation costs for all? The consequentially vulnerable American farmer. Until corn can be guaranteed a profitable role in the upcoming biofuel market for ethanol, America will not be participating in the international festivities.