[Law is not justice but process]

I realized the point you were making, and it is a good one. There is great irony in the fact that we may find other nations have a significant cost advantage in producing ethanol, which would create a lot of market pressure to import the fuel that was supposed to lead to our energy independence. It is a point that must be made. If we banned oil imports, we would find a way (albeit much more expensive) to power our transportation infrastructure with domestic production. We would be independent of oil imports, but we would pay much more than the global market rate for gasoline. Without the subsidies that many on this thread have decried (and rightfully so, in my opinion), even now we would be importing ethanol from countries with lower production costs. Clear the Amazon Rainforest and Brasil might be able to provide enough alcohol for the world.

Of course Brasil would then become OPEC.

[P-40]

we would pay much more than the global market rate for gasoline.

But what are we paying for gasoline now? The price at the pump is certainly nowhere near the true price.