This boondoggle came from both sides of the aisle. The farmers were given massive subsidies for dumping any other crops to go grow corn. The lobbyists representing them threw a lot of money around to keep it going. Politicians, both repubs and dems, rode it hard as it was an easy way to claim they were supporting alternative fuels and being “green”.
But behind all this crap, anyone who did even a small amount of investigative work saw what a disaster this was.
Basically, the amount of fresh water used for growing enough corn for even a gallon of ethanol was a tremendous waste.
Don’t be fooled by what algore is doing here. He is saying first generation ethanol was a mistake. First generation=corn ethanol.
The push now within the federal government and by greenies is for second generation (cellulosic) ethanol. If you disliked the subsidies paid for corn ethanol, you are absolutely going to HATE the subsidies required for cellulosic ethanol.