Energy answers in technology

President Bush has barnstormed around the country in follow-up to his State of the Union message that we need to break our so-called “addiction” to oil. But the habit that really needs breaking is his apparent addiction to the notion that government, rather than free markets, will solve our energy problems.

The president said in his union address, “We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips and stalks or switch grass. Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.”

He echoed that theme in Milwaukee saying, “We must diversify away from oil for national and economic security. The more ethanol we use, the less crude oil we consume.”

Touting ethanol is certainly good politics – particularly in Midwestern corn-growing states that already welcome significant taxpayer subsidies for ethanol. But ethanol isn’t necessarily good economics.

The Spectrum