Having an appreciation for Al Gore's commitment to science and advocacy of responsible policies on energy, the environment, and the economy, I was disappointed by his treatment of ethanol and other biofuels in his new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.

During the late 1970s,...

On these pages and in numerous meetings and hearings before Congress and the EPA, I have routinely criticized the EPA, the state of California, and others in the environmental community for failing to create a level playing field when it comes to accounting of carbon emissions from biofuels and petroleum....

Why is it that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have a blind spot when it comes to assessing indirect land use effects or any kind of indirect effects for oil? And how is it fair to just focus on biofuels and ignore...

Just when we thought policymakers were serious about addressing climate change, we read in The Washington Post that the US State Department has approved the construction of a new petroleum pipeline with the sole purpose of importing Canadian tar sands oil to the US. As the Renewable Fuels Association...

For those who have been paying attention to a debate over the impact of biofuels on indirect land use change (ILUC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced a review panel to assess the methodology for measuring and estimating the impact. While this issue may seem esoteric to some and...

Wednesday, July 15th, marks the 30th anniversary of President Jimmy Carter's famous "malaise" speech.

As with many historic events, this speech was very different from the disaster that we now remember. First, Carter didn't use the word "malaise" even once in the speech. Second, his ratings in the...

It is troubling--and, at the same time, sadly amusing--that an enterprising reporter at USA Today has done more homework on the possible indirect effects of increased renewable electricity generation than scores of analysts at the über environmental agency known as the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Chris Hawley's 1,800-word...

Biofuel policy in Washington these days has gotten too far off course. Ethanol opponents are hard at work trying to shift focus to the alleged impacts of American ethanol use on the decisions of farmers, ranchers, loggers, developers and governments half the world away, despite scant evidence to suggest any...

Let's say a journalist hears an exciting new idea propounded by a gifted phrase-maker who happens not to have a professional credential in the field. Let's say that journalist writes a one-sided cover story for his newsmagazine propounding his source's theory. And let's say that a year later he writes...

Each year, we set aside one day, Ag Day, to appreciate the role of agriculture in the everyday lives of Americans and people around the world. But simply calling it Ag Day does not convey the vital importance and increasing influence agriculture is having over multiple aspects of our national...

In our energy intensive economy, reducing carbon emissions is one of our greatest challenges, but also one of our most necessary goals. In the ongoing debate over how best to reduce carbon emissions (no longer whether we should), there are some who claim, without much scientific support, that continuing to...

At the same time that a major new report concluding that the United States could produce 90 billion gallons of renewable ethanol a year was released, Saudi Arabia's oil minister attacked biofuels for undermining oil development and fringe U.S. environmental groups announced their preference for continued gasoline consumption over the...

As Congress nears a vote on legislation to stimulate the economy, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced he would work with lawmakers and the rest of the Obama administration to include additional support for biofuels and renewable energy in the economic stimulus package and in an energy bill that the...

Ever since the beginning of America's ethanol industry over 30 years ago, scientists, chemical engineers, entrepreneurs and policymakers have sought ways to expand production beyond using corn or other grains as ethanol feedstock. To make ethanol requires breaking down starch into sugar. Converting sugar cane, as they do in Brazil,...

In a recent report, Dr. Cole R. Gustafson, an economist at North Dakota State University, found that despite current economic challenges, the US ethanol industry is poised to significantly increase the production of ethanol derived from wood chips, corn cobs, switchgrass and other forms of cellulose.

Gustafson, however, also took...

For years, ethanol skeptics and critics have dismissed the possibility of shipping ethanol from major producing areas in the Midwest to consuming areas on the east and west coasts. One challenge is the fact that much of our nation's existing oil pipelines run from the Gulf Coast, where oil refineries...

One of President-elect Obama's key objectives early in his administration is to create 2.5 million jobs through investment in green technologies. Investing in cleaner-burning biofuels are among the clean energy technologies likely to be included in this critical initiative.

This makes eminent sense because America's renewable energy industries, whether solar...

We all want to save the planet. Even the most cynical of global warming critics is often in favor of taking rational steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the challenges posed by changes in our climate.

But, in an all-too-predictable outcome, political agendas, dubious motives, questionable science,...

The latest crop reports are in. Substantial increase in grain production outlook and decreased speculation have seen a sharp drop in prices for corn, wheat and soybeans, yet anti-ethanol critics continue to complain. What's going on?

In the agency's August 2008 World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), a clear...