Oil blowout = more corn for ethanol? (gloom...)

A column in Slate this week opines that the disaster in the Gulf may lead to more federal subsidies for the corn-ethanol industry:

The corn-ethanol industry needs to be bailed out by taxpayers because the industry was given too much in the way of subsidies and mandates. And now the only way to solve that problem is—what else?—more subsidies and mandates. The BP mess provides the industry with the opening it needs to win those subsidies from the federal government...

Ethanol producers depend on gasoline sales because their product must be mixed with conventional fuel. But thanks to the recession and the end of Americans' love affair with large SUVs, U.S. gasoline demand is flat or declining...

Now the industry is counting on a president beleaguered by the made-for-TV crisis in the Gulf of Mexico to help it out. And he appears ready to do just that... The Obama administration bailout, which would come via approval from the EPA, will likely allow gasoline retailers to blend up to 15 percent ethanol into U.S. gasoline supplies...

Last year, Toyota recalled more than 200,000 Lexus vehicles because of internal component corrosion that was caused by ethanol-blended fuel. In addition to problems with their cars, consumers may soon find that more ethanol in their gasoline will result in the fouling of smaller engines...

The damage caused by increasing use of ethanol won't be limited to ruined boats, snowblowers, weed whackers, and lawnmowers. The EPA itself has admitted that increased use of ethanol in gasoline will result in worse air quality...

And none of this even considers the effect that the ethanol rip-off is having on food supplies.