ANALYSIS-Ethanol loses halo but still has U.S. support

By Chris Baltimore

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - Soaring food prices have shaken U.S. politicians' love affair with ethanol, but lawmakers are unlikely to adjust mandates for a five-fold boost in biofuel until after the November presidential election.

Renewable fuels made from corn and other crops were once seen as the panacea for an impending U.S. energy crunch, both in Congress and the White House.

But cattle, hog and chicken farmers who have seen feed prices skyrocket, as well as grocery store chains and restaurants, have sought to cast the fuel as the political boogeyman for soaring prices at the supermarket.

Some U.S. politicians are now calling for Congress to rethink legislation it passed last year that would require U.S. gasoline supply to include 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022.

At least one U.S. senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), is seeking to freeze the mandate at 2008 levels of 9 billion gallons.

That's after the governor of Texas -- whose state is the biggest U.S. cattle producer -- asked the federal government to waive half of its mandated ethanol requirement for 2008.

THE THIRD RAIL

After the election, lawmakers could become braver and water down the renewable fuel use mandates, analysts said. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has jurisdiction over the rules, could also exercise authority to waive requirements or even write new, less stringent rules.