It was a scant two years ago that {US} Georgia senator,
Saxby Chambliss voted with 73 other giddy senators for
an energy bill that required the nation to use 7.5 billion
gallons of ethanol.
.. Georgia's farmers loved corn-based ethanol; Georgia's
agri-businesses loved corn-based ethanol; and all that
meant that then-Agriculture Committee Chairman Mr.
Chambliss, loved corn-based ethanol, too.
 
Earlier this year, Senator Chambliss introduced a bill
calling for even greater ethanol use, though with one
striking difference: The bill caps the amount of fuel
that can come from corn.
 
.. Turns out that Georgia's chicken farmers hate corn-
based ethanol, as do Georgia's pork producers, dairy in-
dustry, food producers and hunters, who All hate corn-
based ethanol. And all that has meant that Sen. Chambliss
has had to find a new bio-fuels religion.
 
The shine is off corn ethanol, and oh, what a comedown it
has been.-- It was only in January that Pres. Bush was call-
ing for a yet bajillion more gallons of the wonder stuff in his
State-of-the-Union address, and Iowa's Chuck Grassley
was practically doing the Macarena in his seat.
 
.. And why shouldn't he and fellow ethanol handmaidens have
boogied? They had forced their first mandate through Congress,
their constituent corn farmers would soon be rolling in dough,
billions of taxpayer dollars were spurring dozens of new etha-
nol plants.. and here was the commander-in-chief calling for
yet more corn-fuel federal subsidies. And all in the name of
national security, too!
 
Corn-ethanol seemed unstoppable, but a remarkable thing hap-
pened on the road from Des Moines. Just as the smart people
warned, the government's decision to play energy-market god,
and forcibly divert huge amounts of corn stocks into ethanol
has played havoc with key sectors of the economy.
 
.. Corn prices have nearly doubled, which means livestock own-
ers now couldn't afford to feed their animals, and food and
drink manufacturers are struggling to buy corn and corn syrup.
Environmentalists are soured over new stresses on farmland;
international aid groups are moaning that the U.S. is cutting
back its charitable food giving, and many of these folks are
taking their anger out on congress.
 
Call it a case-study in how a powerful political lobby {farmers
who grow corn} can overplay its hand! {abbreviated version, but
you get the idea, I think}.