Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO)

[Harry Winston]

This is the headline of an op-ed published today in The Washington Examiner.

Michael Bloomberg loses his nerve, grovels at the feet of Big Ethanol

These are the first three paragraphs of that op-ed. There was a clickable link in each of the first two paragraphs.

Michael Bloomberg has succumbed to political temptation, the clearest sign so far that the he will actually be running for president. The former mayor of New York just flew to Iowa, laid his face to the ground, and begged forgiveness of the ethanol barons he had previously criticized.

The actual humiliation was more subtle, of course. But while Bloomberg never left his feet, the groveling was unmistakable. He said “ethanol and biofuels are part of the energy mix.”

Those words aren’t out of the ordinary coming from a politician looking for support in Iowa. Ethanol is a $5 billion dollar industry and a sacred cow in the Corn Belt state. The majority of that money comes from a federally subsidy called the Renewable Fuels Standard and explains exactly why Bloomberg’s words are so significant.

One of the two links was to an article published three hours ago in the Sioux city Journal titled Michael Bloomberg talks climate action in visit to Cedar Rapids

Every candidate for President will be making a trip to that State and complimenting the corn growers there.

Every politician who opposed fossil fuels and who now wants the support of America's oil, gas, and ethanol producers will experience a similar fear of criticizing that powerful lobby in his words or his deeds.