The Senator from Ethanol-land
Obama and Big Corn
By NICOLE COLSON

The recent news that ExxonMobil's second-quarter profits rang up at $11.7 billion--the largest quarterly profit of any company in history--rightly enraged millions of working people in the U.S. and abroad who are feeling the sting of high gas prices.

Democratic contender Barack Obama, among others, has been critical of such mega-profits. As a recent Obama campaign ad warns, "Every time you fill your tank, the oil companies fill their pockets." In response, Obama promises to stand up for workers' rights by instituting a windfall profits tax on oil companies if he becomes president.

But there's another industry that is currently reaping record profits that Obama most likely won't criticize: agribusiness companies that are currently raking in millions on the push towards ethanol and other biofuels.

In the U.S., corn-derived ethanol has been promoted as an "environmentally friendly" alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Thanks in part to massive government subsidies, millions of acres of land has been diverted from crops like soybeans to corn, and dozens of ethanol distilleries have popped up around the country, particularly in the Midwest.

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