SAO PAULO, Brazil -- U.S. presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain supports ending subsidies for U.S. ethanol production and would back Brazil's inclusion on an expanded United Nations Security Council, a Brazilian newspaper reported Sunday.

In comments published by the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, McCain also said he would support Brazil's addition to the Group of Eight industrialized nations and lauded the nation's drive to find clean energy sources.

The United States has ''committed a series of errors in not adopting a sustainable energy policy,'' McCain was quoted as saying. ``One of those is the subsidies for ethanol from corn.''

McCain blamed the price supports for ''destroying the market'' and ``causing a serious problem with inflation.''

The Republican also blasted U.S. tariffs on Brazilian ethanol imports, saying that the Brazilian product made from sugar cane ``is much more efficient than ethanol from corn.''

Critics of the U.S. subsidies say spurring the planting of corn for use in ethanol has added to a sharp spike in global food prices.

But White House economic advisors say corn-based ethanol is responsible for just 2 to 3 percent of the overall increase in food prices, which are up more than 40 percent this year over 2007.

According to Estado de Sao Paulo's report, McCain also said he would back the entry of Brazil and India into a larger G-8 and would favor removing Russia from the group.

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