As we mentioned yesterday, biofuels (specifically corn ethanol) are a hot topic during the Congressional recess this week. Here’s just one example of an op-ed making the case for biofuels that we found particularly compelling:

Both Sides: Biofuels create jobs and put money in Americans’ pockets

- By Don Kusler

Investments in wind and solar energy are a key part of our nation’s energy strategy, but now is not the time for Congress to stop investing in ethanol in favor of these alternatives.

While wind and solar energy need additional research and technological advances to make them more efficient and affordable, ethanol is a proven technology that has been in use for a century. Today, 10 percent of almost every gallon of gasoline you pump into your car is ethanol, reducing our daily consumption of foreign oil by hundreds of thousands of barrels.

But perhaps the main reason it would be wrong for Congress to cut investments in ethanol production is the same reason Congress shouldn’t be cutting spending in any sector — our struggling economy.

Currently, the United States is producing approximately 4.5-billion gallons of ethanol annually, but the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated that domestic production of renewable fuels reach 7.5 billion gallons by 2012.

The Department of Energy reports that for every billion gallons of ethanol produced, 10,000-20,000 people are hired — right here in America — to do the work. At a time when our economy is hemorrhaging jobs, it would be disastrous to end investments in an industry that is growing and producing secure domestic jobs… [MORE]