Posted on 03/25/2007 8:48:02 AM PDT by hedgetrimmer
When Americans voted for George W. Bush in November 2000, they knew they were electing a man with deep ties to Texas oil.
But six years later, a greener-sounding Bush is about to depart for a trip to Brazil, where he hopes to forge a biofuels partnership that officials believe could revolutionize America's fuel industry and transform its relations with Latin America.
Critics suspect the president's biofuels conversion is only superficial, a late-in-the-day effort to build a less oil-splattered legacy. U.S. officials, though, talk of a new era of "ethanol diplomacy," capable perhaps one day of rivaling the petro-dollars muscle of the oil cartel countries.
"This is transformational policy," said Gregory Manuel, the State Department's international energy coordinator who has quietly shuttled between Washington and Brazil in recent months negotiating a biofuels cooperation agreement.
"Having the leadership of the United States ... in cooperation with Brazil, is the kind of DNA which spells great things for the world as we move toward alternative energy over the medium and longer term."
Such is the level of intensity that Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet twice this month, a rarity for even the closest U.S. ally. After they meet Thursday in Brasilia, Lula will come on March 31 to Camp David, where the biofuels pact may be finalized.
'All charged up'
For years, Brazil tried in vain to persuade U.S. officials of the merits of ethanol, which had made the largest country in South America virtually energy self-sufficient.
"The price of oil for a long time didn't compel," said Donna Hrinak, U.S. ambassador to Brazil from 2002 to 2004. She recalls Brazil raising the issue in 2003. "Our response was 'We are working on the hydrogen car. We are happy with that and we'll see you later.' "
That began to change with the emergence since 1999 of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who is using his country's vast petroleum reserves to undermine U.S. influence in the region.
Bush got a taste of that firsthand in November 2005 when he attended a regional summit in Argentina that was marred by anti-U.S. riots stoked by Chavez.
On his way back from the summit, Bush stopped in Brazil, where he got a much warmer reception. Lula invited him to his country home, known as Crooked Creek Ranch, for a relaxed barbecue.
"It was a very good, cordial meeting, lots of smiles and a warm atmosphere," said John Danilovich, U.S. ambassador to Brazil from 2004 to 2006, who was present. "There's a real rapport between the two men."
A leftist former union leader, Lula might not seem Bush's natural ally. But he is big on biofuels. He keeps a display in his office of feedstock samples and the fuels they produce. Bush and Lula have grown so close that they regularly speak by phone, often outside office hours.
At the barbecue, Lula asked his agriculture minister, Roberto Rodrigues, to make the case for biofuels to the Americans.
Rodrigues spoke for an hour.
"How is it that humanity built a civilization upon fossil fuels, a finite substance that is poorly distributed around the world?" he said. "It makes no sense when we have a renewable liquid that can be produced by almost any country."
The Americans listened intently, he said. "President Bush had lots of questions. So did Secretary Condoleezza Rice."
Bush returned to Washington "all charged up" on Brazilian biofuels, recalls Allan Hubbard, the president's chief economic adviser.
"When he got back he grabbed me and said 'Hubbard, what about this, what they are doing with ethanol down in Brazil?' " he said.
A letter from Florida
White House staff had already done some work on biofuels, but nothing had gone as far as the president's desk.
"We've been working on it for a while. We didn't actually start presenting it to the president until after the (November 2006) election," Hubbard said.
In the meantime the president received a letter from his brother in Tallahassee. Florida had taken a beating from the 2005 hurricane season, sending gas prices soaring. The governor's contacts in Miami were touting Brazil as a model for energy independence.
Jeb Bush wrote to his brother in April, urging the president to implement "a comprehensive ethanol strategy for our country and our hemisphere."
Rather than buy oil from hostile nations such as Venezuela, which supplies about 12 percent of U.S. petroleum needs, Jeb Bush said the United States ought to buy biofuels from friendly countries such as Brazil and Colombia, as well as Central America and the Caribbean.
Jeb Bush was already deep in talks with the Brazilian ethanol industry about a joint partnership. In December, two weeks before leaving office, he co-founded the Interamerican Ethanol Commission to promote regional production. Rodrigues, who gave President Bush the biofuels lecture, was a co-signer.
'Ludicrous number'
In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush surprised many by setting a goal of 35-billion gallons of annual biofuels consumption by 2017, a sevenfold leap from current capacity. While the United States hopes to achieve most of that processing domestic corn and other plant material, Bush said imports would also be required.
Since January, Bush has been on a tear, visiting biofuels labs in North Carolina and Delaware. He hosted a hybrid car demonstration at the White House.
Last week, Bush led a panel of biofuels scientists at a leading enzymes company. Bush chatted knowledgeably about the science of ethanol and new technology to make it from nonfood crops.
"I am passionate about this subject," he told the audience.
But Bush's exuberance over ethanol may not be enough to persuade skeptics and overcome some major political hurdles.
Members of Congress may balk at opening up the heavily subsidized U.S. market, which is protected by a 54-cent-per-gallon ethanol tariff.
Some industry experts question whether ethanol really can substitute a major percentage of U.S. gasoline use. Brazil and the United States produce 70 percent of the world's ethanol, but ethanol represents just 2 percent of U.S. fuel consumption.
"Biofuels aren't going to bring us energy independence," said Charles Drevna, vice president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, which opposes federal mandates to stimulate alternative fuel use.
He described the president's 35-billion gallon goal as "a ludicrous number," warning that Bush had gone "google-eyed over renewable energy" and had embarked on "a massive undertaking fraught with pitfalls along the way."
Deep suspicions
U.S. environmentalists also remain deeply suspicious of the White House's motives, sensing a rush to redeem the president's legacy in his last two years in office.
"If President Bush really wanted to be the biofuels president, he would put a carbon tax on fossil fuels. He won't do it, though," said Bruce Babcock, a leading agricultural economist at Iowa State University. A carbon tax on gasoline would make biofuels more competitive, stimulating private investment, he said. "Everyone would overlook everything else he did to the environment, that would all be forgiven."
But others commend the president for opening his eyes to new energy sources.
"It may well be genuine. I'm a little surprised, but pleasantly surprised," said Deron Lovaas, vehicles campaign director for the National Resources Defense Council.
"This is a political moment that shouldn't be wasted."
Oh gawd.
If you think oil wars are bad, wait 'til we start with the water wars to grow this fuel!
Actually the Brazilians appear to have a REAL program in place using alternative ethanol energy. I'm sick and tired of funding American "pork" projects that are making some people wealthy while giving nothing back,but I'm willing to listen to the Brazilians because they're actually showing progress in this area !!!
So Jeb drove GW to drink?
No unelected commission, which allows unprecedented influence of foreign nationals on our federal government policies(in direct conflict with the stated purpose of our government which is to support the right of individual citizens of this country to self government) should be allowed to operate in this country.
No president should sign bills into law that engineer the country into accepting a product that was not viable in the free market.
No president should sign a bill into law that grants power to unelected members of his family and guarantees them profits at the expense of the American citizen. That is THE definition of corruption.
It figures that W would fall for the ethanol hype. He could immediately lower gasoline prices by working to nationalize a standard fuel formula so that our bottlenecked refinery capacity isn't tied up in producing 40+ boutique fuels. Ethanol plays into this bottleneck. It can't be piped. It has to be trucked! It is subject to the whims and plagues of nature on corn crops. It requires nearly as much energy to create ethanol as the ethanol contains. Ethanol btu's are inferior to gasoline btu's per gallon.
I think the newfound friendship with Brazil is more to tick off Chavez than anything else. Other than that, Brazil really doesn't have much to offer us.
I wonder who got rich in putting ADM in your tank.
And the food wars for the nitrogen fertilizer that the increase in corn production is going to cause?
It is starting to remind me of the 'green revolution' in the 1960's that encouraged the truck farmers in Africa to convert their crops to peanut production for the export market.
As we all know, famine ensued, with starvation and death devastating the people of Africa.
No it isn't.
Brazil is manipulating the American government to create the ethanol market here were none existed because it was not viable in a free marketplace.
You know that ethanol in Brazil is subsidized to socially engineer the citizens into using it. Their market has stagnated and Brazil wants Americans to remove tariffs on ethanol so they can capture the market here. The president and his corrupt brother Jeb will make their fortunes by enabling Brazil to succeed.
These machinations are blatantly anti-American.
Of course, we could be drilling for oil off the coast of Florida....
When you have the federal government creating policies and signing laws that guarantee you profits, its not just an odd pipe dream. These people will profit and it will be because of corruption.
Who is getting a guarantee of profits?
I wish Jeb Bush would GO AWAY ALREADY! He let Terri Schiavo die. Whatever he says is of no consequence.
That's right. We have a he!! of a lot more oil than water in this country and around the world.
Drilling in ANWAR, the Gulf of Mexico (oh no...I said Mexico), and are good ideas. Supplementing our fuel supply with Ethanol is another good idea. Depending on American farms to produce all of the corn necessary for that is a BAAAAD idea.
Cheap source of ethanol from Brazil? If true I'm all for it and I don't particularly care who else gets rich from it. In fact, instead of whining about it I'd be better served finding out how I can get rich as well.
Instead of just letting, as you said: "Mr. Bush and his brother [get] very wealthy, and [giving] them control over yet another energy producing segment of American industry"
Of course, investing in America is a moot point, I guess, since, as you say, "...I guess [Congress doesn't] care, their personal portfolios are all invested in foreign stocks and their campaign money and direction come from foreign corporations and foreign governments, they don't need the US any more.
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