[Arkie2]

Facts won't matter here. The ethanol subsidy to corn farmers is too big of a pork barrel program to be stopped by mere scientific evidence.

[jbstrick]

Expect the freerepublic ethanol lobby to arrive soon...

[WildTurkey]

Facts won't matter here.

hmmm. I thought it was the evil professors at the liberal universities that we weren't supposed to side with. I guess I was wrong.

[jonrick46]

Methanol from corn production is a good idea. The waste from such production has high value uses that can be sold to offset its costs.

I might add that a new process may take the ethanol process one step further. There is a chemical engineer that has developed a process to make diesel fuel directly from any organic material. Now the corn cob and the corn stalk can be used to make diesel fuel, along with garbage and any waste product that has carbon. The fuel vapors from the process provides the energy to crack the molecules down to fuel grade diesel. Is it soup yet?

[Schwaeky]

Even if this is correct, there is a legitimate reason to pursue ethanol, even to reduce demand levels for petroleum..

Allow us a cushion to seek other petroleum resources/ get our own online again that shut down for various reason, so we can starve the middle east into submission. Ariana Huffington and co. are wrong to demonize suv owners, but they are right that we enable those who aid the terrorists by continuing our dependency upon arab petrol.. Lets blocade the Arabian peninsula, embargo the persian gulf, not let one drop of arab petrol (save maybe for Iraqi) out, until the terrorism stops... Manmade famine for the Saudis, aw too bad, maybe some of them need to starve to death--it may not be bombs, but that is real TERROR! Take the battle to the enemy! We need to fight the war on terror on every front!

BILLIONS FOR ETHANOL, but not ONE CENT FOR ARAB PETROL!!!

[BurbankKarl]

yes, you burn 7% more for the same energy....

oh well, pork barrel politics