That 21st century snake oil, ethanol, just won't go away. Rob Port of Say Anything reports on a bipartisan show of idiocy: Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, and Gov. John Hoeven, a Republican, are pushing for a higher maximum level for ethanol in gasoline. Right now the limit is 10 percent--the North Dakota pols want that upped to 15 percent.There is so much wrong with ethanol I can't list all the reasons, but here are a few:
Even if every patch of arable land is dedicated to corn for ethanol production (What will we eat?), it won't come close to solving our energy needs. Ethanol is not clean, it pollutes. Ethanol drives up food costs. It takes more energy to make ethanol (not everyone agrees with this point) than we get out of it. And finally, even with massive federal subsidies, ethanol producers still have trouble making money.
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