If you ever drive through Iowa you might see a lot of… corn. Big Surprise, I know.

But Nearly half of all the corn grown in Iowa goes into ethanol, an additive that is blended into the gasoline used to power our cars every day. That means corn does not just power our vehicles,  it also drives local, regional, and national debates between politicians, farmers, oil CEOs, and environmentalists on what a clean energy future looks like in the United States. 

Relying on plants for energy seems like a big step toward a renewable energy solution/future: they take in CO2, rather than emitting it. 

The case for ethanol is not so straightforward. 

The corn planted today does not offset the CO2 emitted when manufacturers turn corn into ethanol. Further, even though most corn goes toward food for livestock, creating more cornfields directly impacts our environment and food prices. 

So why is ethanol still an important component of the United States’ energy portfolio?

To states in the Midwest’s “corn belt” ethanol holds enormous political and economic value. In 2019, ethanol supported over 349,000 jobs and generated $43 billion towards the national gross domestic product. In Iowa specifically, the ethanol industry created 37,000 jobs and generated $1.8 billion for residents.

For lawmakers representing these rural areas, ethanol is not just about corn but what it provides: economic stability and rural vitality. To win votes in this region, politicians from all parties make sure they support federal blending mandates (provisions that require a certain volume of ethanol to be blended into gasoline), or federal subsidies that give oil refiners a tax break for blending ethanol into their final product. When Congress and the President have attempted to adjust blending mandates or subsidies, they are met with harsh criticism from rural blocks of voters. 

Despite the science telling us — back then and now — that the ethanol hype of the early 2000s was a mirage, politicians continue to support ethanol provisions in order to appeal to their rural constituents. 

Ethanol’s political power has deep roots in today’s clean energy economy. But looking at how different stakeholders criticize ethanol today can also help us understand its future in the renewable energy portfolio. 

What are they saying, how are they saying it, and why should we care? The stakes are high not just for farmers or ethanol refiners (this is a multi-billion-dollar industry after all) but for us: if the United States continues to support policies and provisions that provide space for debatable green energy solutions, we might continue to avoid directly addressing the climate change crisis.

In the next few weeks, I will dive into the politics of biofuels and unpack why those Midwestern cornfields might be more interesting than we think.