Food for Thought

In a late campaign move intended to wrap up Iowa once and for all (looks like it may have worked), Barack Obama recently announced his plan to increase by two-thirds the federal mandate for ethanol and other renewable fuels. John McCain, unfortunately, may have missed a chance to effectively counter-punch in Pennsylvania, another key battleground state.

McCain, of course, has pledged to do away with ethanol mandates if elected. That promise should play well in Pennsylvania, because unlike Iowans who love their ethanol (the Hawkeye State is home to about 25 percent of total U.S. ethanol production) Pennsylvanians have grown wary of the biofuel’s unintended consequences; namely, food inflation.