Ethanol plans stir debate

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By Ed Tibbetts | Friday, March 10, 2006 12:44 AM CST | () comments

Congressional rivals Brian Kennedy and Mike Whalen renewed their feud Thursday, this time over renewable fuel.

Kennedy accused Whalen of a “flip-flop” on ethanol, claiming his role on the board of a think-tank casts doubt on goals he laid out last week to boost the availability of ethanol and production of bio-diesel.

Both he and Kennedy are seeking the GOP nomination in Iowa’s 1st District. Both are of Bettendorf.

“I think it’s hard to trust anything he says about ethanol given he was the policy chair of an organization that is decidedly anti-ethanol,” Kennedy said.

He cited an article, published last year, by Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the center. In part, it read: “Like so much of the pork Congress bestows upon special interests, ethanol is bad for the economy, bad for consumers and bad for the environment.”

Until he launched his congressional bid last spring, Whalen was policy chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, which has offices in Dallas, Texas, and Washington, D.C., according to its Web site. He occupied the position for about six months.

Sean Tuffnell, the center’s communications director, said its president and scholars determine policy direction, not the policy chair or board of directors. “That would not be something he had direct input on,” Tuffnell said. He said the board’s role is more a financial one.

Burnett, who deals with environmental and energy issues for the organization, said the center is “fuel neutral,” but opposes the government promoting any fuel. The federal government subsidizes ethanol.

A Whalen spokesman, Brian Dumas, said Whalen doesn’t agree with the criticisms of the renewable fuel, and it is not unusual for people to belong to organizations with which they do not totally agree.

He called the criticism “Kennedy’s yip-yap of the week.”

“Mike’s spent three decades working to promote Iowa agriculture,” Dumas said, referring to Whalen’s founding of Heart of America Restaurants & Inns. “While Brian’s been living in Tennessee and Washington, Mike’s been in Iowa.”

Kennedy used to work as a lobbyist with the DCI Group in Washington, D.C., but he said while working in Tennessee and here, he worked to promote Iowa agriculture.

Kennedy said, as policy chair, Whalen was in a position to affect the center’s policy. “He either agreed with them, or did nothing to change it,” he said. Kennedy announced an energy plan last year that calls for building new oil refineries, expanding offshore drilling and boosting the amount of ethanol in the country’s fuel supply.

Also seeking the GOP nomination is Iowa Rep. Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at

(563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.