(McCain) was opposed to ethanol. Now he's for it.
On ethanol, McCain has maintained a long-standing opposition to subsidies for the alternative fuel and that hasn't changed. But the way he talks about ethanol has changed significantly. In 1999, he told an audience in Iowa, where corn-based ethanol is popular: "I'm here to tell you the things you don't want to hear as well as the things you want to hear. One of those things is ethanol. Ethanol is not worth it. It does not help the consumers. … Those ethanol subsidies should be phased out. And everybody here on this stage, if it wasn't for the fact that Iowa is the first caucus state, would share my view that we don't need ethanol subsidies." In 2007, McCain started to speak more favorably of ethanol and admitted it was a position change. He told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press": "It makes a lot of sense. We are dependent on foreign oil too much. We have a situation where greenhouse gases has now become--emissions has become a vital issue. I am for sugarcane, biofuels, switch grass, and corn-based ethanol because of our need for independence on foreign oil. … I have adjusted to the realities of the world we live in today, and if I don't adjust to those realities, then I would be stuck in the past." That's a significant change in opinion on the biofuel. We found the statement that McCain used to oppose ethanol but now supports it to be Mostly True.
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