Corn Ethanol is Not Optimal - Says Senator Obama

Now that Barack Obama is President Elect, it seems a good idea to recap some of his previous newsmaking thoughts about the future of energy in the US. One of his most telling comments came at a stop in Terre Haute, Indiana last March, where Barack Obama spoke of his support for alternative energy, saying that corn-based ethanol is not optimal.

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Responding to a question about corn-based ethanol, he described it as a “transitional” technology.

“Corn-based ethanol is not optimal. I’ve been a big supporter of corn-based ethanol. I come from a corn state, Illinois, and it’s a good transitional technology, but the truth is, it is not as efficient as what the Brazilians are doing with sugar cane.”

He closed by saying that he intends to charge polluters for their negative impact on global warming and then reinvest those funds on renewable energies, such as wind, solar and clean coal.

Not being a fan of “clean” coal myself, two out of three aint bad.

Photo: courtesy of Jason Means via Flickr Creative Commons Licence

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