White House Trumpeting New Fuel Standard

The Bush administration this afternoon announced the EPA's final Renewable Fuel Standard with some pomp and circumstance at the agency's headquarters, reports Associate Editor Bret Schulte. In attendance: EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, and the administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Nicole Nason.

The new standard sets a national goal of producing 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels -- for all intents and purposes, ethanol -- by 2012. At first blush, it seems a worthy goal, but the country already produced 5 billion gallons last year. It could reach 7.5 billion in the next year or two, giving the administration a rather easy victory.

Meanwhile, the administration has remained silent on how to divide finite corn supplies between the demands of the national gas tank and the demands of the national, or, more accurately, international kitchen. Already the demand for corn has sent prices for the crop skyrocketing. Plus, vehicles that run on the E85 blend (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) being promoted by Washington policymakers get 20 to 30 percent fewer miles per gallon than they do with gasoline, meaning it will hit drivers in the pocketbook as they pull over more frequently to fill up the tank.

Etc.: Is Ethanol the Answer?, on USNews.com