McConnell Sought Grant but Mocked Obama Biofuel Plan
McConnell sought grant money for a company seeking to develop biofuel from algae, then a few years later called Obama’s proposal for a similar plan a “pipe dream.”
Two years ago, Sen. Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor to deride President Barack Obama for a speech that called for developing biofuel from algae — dismissing it as nothing more than a “pipe dream.”
“I think the American people realize that a president who’s out there talking about algae when they’re having to choose between whether to buy groceries or to fill up the tank is the one who’s out of touch,” McConnell said.
But a few years earlier, McConnell, R-Ky., himself worked to obtain a $30 million grant for a company that wanted to build a plant in Springfield, Ky., to turn algae, switchgrass, corncobs and other such materials into ethanol — a plant that ultimately was never built and a grant that was never spent.
