I like Doug Holtz-Eakin. I liked the health care plan he designed when he was with John McCain’s presidential campaign. And I like most of the work he is doing as President of the American Action Forum. Especially when he writes articles like this for The Hill: Time for Congress to End Its Ethanol Addiction. In the article Doug writes:
Ethanol corrodes engines, reduces miles per gallon (MPG) performance, and has a terrible environmental record. No wonder Al Gore, a previous supporter, has stated, “[E]thanol, I think, was a mistake.” As for current Secretary of Energy and Nobel Prize recipient Steven Chu: “Ethanol is not an ideal transportation fuel.” To an extent, even the EPA agrees.
…
Fortunately, a groundswell of opposition is starting to form in the Senate. Seventeen senators from across the ideological spectrum (Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)) are opposed to the current policy that showers ethanol with every conceivable protection. They wrote, “Historically our government has helped a product compete in one of three ways: subsidize it, protect it from competition, or require its use. We understand that ethanol may be the only product receiving all three forms of support from the U.S. government at this time.” Leave it to Congress to break all the wrong records.
Unfortunately, the Coburn-Feinstein bill was defeated by Senators like Dick Lugar from Indiana. Lugar supports ethanol mandates because they enrich some of his more politically active constituents.
One would think then that the 501(c)(4) ‘action tank’ arm of Doug’s American Action Forum, the American Action Network, would be supporting “limited government” conservatives like Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock. Mourdock opposes ethanol mandates and is challenging Lugar in the Republican primary. But the opposite is true. Politico reports:
If a “policy adviser, and strategist” like Doug really wanted Congress to end its addiction to ethanol, they should spend less time writing op-eds in The Hill and more time making sure their “partner” organizations aren’t supporting pro-ethanol candidates.
