Ethanol

We are now passing laws which require U.S. motorists to use at least 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. This is being touted as a measure which will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We subsidize ethanol to the tune of 51 cents per gallon, in addition. All of this is mostly a sham. First, we need to realize that it takes 1.29 gallons of fossil fuel to produce one gallon of ethanol. This was recently found by research conducted by scientists from Cornell and Berkley. That is because it takes considerable fossil fuel to produce ethanol in the form of fertilizer to grow the corn, transportation of the crop to the distillery, transportation of the the ethanol to the blending sites, and so forth. So, the liberals who claim that if we use ethanol it will keep us from supporting the Saudis and the nasty oil companies who support George Bush are full of it.