"Cornhucksters"

Iowa, el primer estado que votará en las primarias, es el corazón de la zona de mayor producción de maíz de la Unión, y la industria del etanol es parte importante de su economía. Se calcula que un tercio de toda la producción de maíz del estado se destina a la obtención de etanol.

National Review repasa el historial de los cuatro posibles candidatos presidenciales del Medio Oeste (Daniels, Pawlenty, Thune y Pence) respecto a la industria del etanol.

(...) Mitch Daniels

When Mitch Daniels was sworn in as governor in January of 2005, there was one ethanol plant in Indiana. Now there are twelve operating plants and a thirteenth set to start running early next year. This isn’t an accident: Daniels aimed to increase Indiana’s annual ethanol and biodiesel production to 1 billion gallons by 2008. Once that thirteenth plant begins producing, Indiana will have met the goal.

Under Daniels’s leadership, Indiana has aggressively courted the ethanol industry. “He’s been a huge supporter of building ethanol plants . . . and also [has tried] to encourage consumers to buy ethanol,” says Indiana political analyst Ed Feigenbaum, adding that much of the new industry “has come at the cost . . . of state subsidies.”

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