Brazil Energy Independent; Don't Credit Ethanol

Distinguished former President Bill Clinton is undermining AlGore's global warming road show with his own "global initiative." But Clinton is also twisting the facts to suit his agenda. Clinton is going around saying that Brazil has gained energy independece (true) by growing and using ethanol, but that's not true. Investor's Business Daily caught him this time in Clinton Shills For Bad Energy Policy:

Energy: Bill Clinton's back, now touting tax hikes for ethanol to California voters. "If Brazil can do it, so can we," he said, claiming an ethanol switch ended Brazil's need for foreign oil. Once again, he's telling whoppers.

Brazil did achieve independence from foreign oil all right. It happened this past April. But Clinton, true to form, doesn't quite recall the critical point showing how it was done.

Here's a clue for the semi-retired former president and policy wonk: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva didn't celebrate the oil independence milestone out in an Amazon sugar field.

No, he smashed a champagne bottle on the spaceship-like deck of Brazil's vast P-50 oil rig in the Albacora Leste field in the deep blue Atlantic. Why? Brazil's oil independence had virtually nothing to do with its ethanol development. It came from drilling oil.

Oil. They did it by drilling for and consuming oil.

From 2004 to 2006 Brazil increased its oil production by 400,000 barrels per day to 1.9 million. But ethanol only produces 292,000 barrels. That's 15% of the energy production.

Let's keep looking for a developing alternate energy sources. But they have to make economic sense. If they have to make their own way in the marketplace, then some will become succesful, while others won't make sense and will fail.

But it doesn't help to lie about them.