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"Bottom line: Corn-fed ethanol is not more economical and causes no better emissions."

Does it reduce our dependence on oil purchases from terror sponsoring states?
And even if we don't buy direct from terror states, does it reduce our total purchases of oil on the world markets, which in turn would reduce the price and purchases of oil from terror sponsoring states.
Does it extend our supply of fossil fuels which are thought to be finite, by using a renewable source instead?
Does it help build the infrastructure for the day where we need to find an alternative to oil?

Of the top 5 countries the US imports oil from, only 17% originates in the middle east:

Top five countries
Canada (37%)
Saudi Arabia (13%)
Mexico (9%)
Venezuela (9%)
Iraq (4%)

I’d rather the corn be used for food, livestock and exported rather than turned into fuel. If they *must* agonize over that 17%, we can grow cane, switchgrass or whatever for ethanol production instead of corn. It is the height of idiocy to waste a food crop when there are *HIGHLY* viable alternative crops.

Now, I would love nothing more than to tell the Saudi’s that they can eat their oil because we no longer need it *AND* sell them corn at $100/bushel (and see how they like the shoe on the other foot). But diverting corn for ethanol production has such a large ripple effect that it is not smart — especially since it has not put an appreciable dent in middle-east oil imports and will certainly never replace them. We need to look elsewhere for that.

Cruz has made it clear that we should be developing/availing ourselves of *all* our resources. I’ve heard it said that we are our own “Saudi Arabia” when it comes to natural gas and coal, we just need an administration and congress to get runaway govt regs/restrictions (EPA/Greenies and DOE) out of the way.

Your questions do not address the cronyism or corporate welfare. I’m convinced there’s a lot of “greasing” the palms (pun intended) concerning this crap.

I’m sick and tired of politics getting in the way of true economic sense. Government budgets are the real “voodoo economics”, and this ridiculous shell game has to stop.

I also don’t believe ethanol as an “alternative fuel” puts much of a dent into how much we import from the Middle East.

I am not willing to accept having the government to farmers to produce corn for inefficient and more costly fuel, with the false premise of it being more “green”.

But that’s just me - and MANY other true conservatives...