Mayor Wades In To Ethanol Policy Debate

Even though he's far from the Iowa campaign trail, Mayor Bloomberg is wading into the debate over ethanol subsidies, saying that subsidizing corn may be good agricultural policy but it is bad energy policy.

During an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC early yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said that by subsidizing corn-based ethanol the country is penalizing sugar-based ethanol, which he said is "a lot better for the environment."

"It just doesn't make any sense," he said. "That may very well be a good idea but you can't do it as part of the energy part of policy, you should be doing it as part of our agricultural policy."

Mr. Bloomberg, who is the subject of a Newsweek cover story on his possible presidential aspirations, said yesterday that he is not a candidate for president.

"But I will say that I'm tired," he said. "I think the American public is tired of Congress being split down the middle and the partisanship has just frozen them and keeps them from going after the big issues and coming up with concrete solutions."