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Renewable Fuel Standard mandating ethanol has divided rural opinions
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The two major presidential candidates' positions on the Renewable Fuel Standard has riven some in Ohio's farm community. The mandate requires 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel such as ethanol to be blended with gasoline.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, opposes the Renewable Fuel Standard; Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, supports it. Two local farmers offer their perspective on how the presidential candidates' stances will influence their votes in the Nov. 4 election:
Tim Blair
LIBERTY TWP., Darke County — After 33 years of raising hogs, Tim Blair predicts he'll be out of business by year's end.
"I've basically spent my life savings the past 14 months hoping it would get better," said Blair, 52.
He places much blame for high feed prices that are making his hog operation unprofitable on the federal government's ethanol mandate.
"I'm losing money because of the government's policy," he said.
Feed accounts for two-thirds or more of the cost of raising hogs. Cash prices for corn, which is fed to hogs and also used in making ethanol, reached more than $7 per bushel for a few weeks this summer, about double what prices had been a year earlier.
When Blair heard McCain favors eliminating the Renewable Fuel Standard, he said he came off the undecided fence, saying, "Amen, brother, he's seen the light."
McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate solidified Blair's commitment, noting he believes Palin reflects his small-government, less-tax philosophy, love of hunting and family values.
"One thing that impressed me with her is she's not going up there to be part of the 'good old boys' club," Blair said.
Blair said he's against the government mandate and ethanol subsidy, not the fuel itself. "Ethanol should have to do what I'm doing — run on its own."
Tom Becker
DINSMORE TWP., Shelby County — Sen. Barack Obama's stance against the Iraq war resonated with Tom Becker, who says the conflict is unnecessary and has been waged to win control of oil.
But Obama's backing of corn-based ethanol also helped clinch the vote of the 76-year-old Shelby County farmer, a lifelong Democrat whose last Republican pick for president was Ronald Reagan.
"Ethanol is one of the big things that down the road is going to help farmers more than (Sen. John) McCain's ideas," said Becker, who farms 600 acres of corn and soybeans with his son, Ted.
Becker also would like Obama to reverse some of the deregulation overseen by the current and previous Republican administrations.
He's repulsed by McCain's pick of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate: "She's got no background at all — none."
He's more impressed by the experience and foreign-relation credentials of Obama's selection, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. "He knows the ropes," Becker said, adding, "He doesn't pussyfoot around when he gives a talk."
Becker said Obama seems to be making few inroads in rural Ohio.
"There's so many farmers that belong to (Ohio) Farm Bureau," Becker said. "The Republican philosophy is hammered into them."
A Farm Bureau spokesman said the organization has not endorsed a presidential candidate in at least 30 years.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or
bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.
