Finding Religion On Ethanol In Iowa

By Steven Shepard  //  January 28, 2011 | 3:27 p.m.
Updated: January 31, 2011 | 2:25 p.m.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) opposed ethanol subsidies during his Senate career, but now, exploring a run for the president, Santorum earned headlines this week when he embraced government supports for ethanol in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa. Evidence suggests, however, his change of heart is not new.

"I guess you could say I've had a mixed record on that," Santorum said in an interview published this week by the website IowaPolitics.com.

Santorum attributed his changed views to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Prior to 9/11, I was not a big fan of ethanol subsidies," said Santorum, "but 2001 change my mind on a lot of things, and one of them was trying to support domestic energy and this is part of it."

Cynical observers might suggest that Santorum is only supporting ethanol subsidies now that he is a potential candidate in the Iowa caucuses.

But Santorum, in a column on energy published two years ago in the Philadelphia Inquirer, implored his "hard-core conservative friends" to "hold on to your hats" as he announced: "What we need is a government mandate! We need to mandate that all cars sold in the United States, starting with the 2010 model year, be "flex-fuel vehicles" -- that is, they should be able to run on a blend that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline (the so-called E85 blend), or even a coal-derived methanol/gas mixture."

Santorum isn't the only potential 2012 candidate with a nuanced view about ethanol subsidies as Republicans try to court Iowa caucus-goers, with other Midwestern politicians having staked out positions during their careers.

-- Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked for ethanol subsidies from the state legislature during his term.

-- Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has supported ethanol production in his home state, but a statement provided to National Review Online earlier this month affirmed his opposition to the federal subsidy.

-- Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., also tries to strike a balance. Thune, from a Midwestern state, has supported ethanol issues in the past. At an in-state event earlier this month, Thune told South Dakotans that opposition was mounting to the federal ethanol subsidy in and out of Congress, but he promoted "an increase in the ethanol market, more flex fuel vehicles and an increase in blender pumps installed across the country," according to a newspaper account. Thune also voted for a one-year extension of the subsidy last month. Among 2008 GOP candidates considering another run at the presidency, both former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were supporters of the ethanol subsidy. Huckabee and Romney finished first and second, respectively, in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. On the other hand, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the party's 2008 nominee despite a fourth-place finish in Iowa, has always opposed ethanol subsidies. Still, McCain softened his stance a bit, calling ethanol a "vital, vital alternative energy source" during a campaign stop in the Midwest in 2006. But just last week, McCain -- with his final national campaign behind him -- mentioned ethanol subsidies among the sacred cows he would seek to cut in order to reduce the federal budget deficit, in an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Ethanol is a joke," said McCain.

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