Will 2009 see an ethanol bailout?

Ethanol may be the worst type of renewable energy, but that won't stop the industry from attempting to participate in the new bailout culture of the United States. A story in the Wall Street Journal says that the industry's lobbying group, the Renewable Fuels Association, is asking for a $1 billion short-term credit line as well as $50 billion in loan guarantees. What would all this money be for? The one million is to keep the doors open and the $50 billion is "to finance expansion." Another little request from the industry: let us put more than 10 percent ethanol into your standard gasoline at the pump. The WSJ gives the short and recent history of ethanol, which should be familiar to most readers, and includes lines about how "the ethanol industry wouldn't even exist without the more than $25 billion in taxpayer handouts over the past 20 years." So, are you ready to keep on funding ethanol in the US?

[Source: Wall Street Journal]