Green Daily

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that some of Obama's main advisers have close ties to the nascent ethanol industry. One of those advisers, former Senator Tom Daschle (remember him? from South Dakota?), serves on the board of three (count 'em) three ethanol companies. Obama has also at various times in the past flown for cheap on corporate jets owned by Archer Daniels Midland, the giant agribusiness with a big stake in ethanol.

Should this news make enviros worried about the expansion of agribusiness think twice about supporting Obama? John McCain is way more negative about governmental subsidies for corn-based ethanol, but that doesn't make him an enviroprince - he wants to eliminate tariffs on more efficient sugar cane-based ethanol, which is produced in places like Brazil, not noted for their environmental agricultural practices. And as Obama points out, switching to sugar-cane ethanol will not solve the problem of dependency on foreign energy producers.