The first rule of Internet use is "Don't believe everything you read on the net."
Maybe the reason people are not lining up to pump ethanol is because they aren't buying into the massive ethanol fraud being perpetrated by our elected officials and Midwest agri-giants like ADM and Cargill.
A quick "who is" search reveals that the Web site Mr. Ferrell cited (www.drivinge thanol.org -- not.com) is actually owned by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council which is an alliance of ethanol producers.
Do a little more research using reputable and scientific sources. It will show that ethanol zeal is misguided.
Here are some undisputed facts:
-- Ethanol producers are subsidized by the federal government 51 cents for every gallon they produce. ADM alone got $524 million in subsidies last year.
-- Ethanol won't significantly reduce our oil imports, ever. To completely replace gasoline for cars, the U.S. would have to grow corn on literally every square inch of the country, including Alaska.
-- Using ethanol costs $7.87 to reduce fossil fuel use by the energy in a gallon of gasoline. It is simply not "less expensive" than gasoline.
In 1997, the General Accounting Office concluded that "ethanol's potential for substituting for petroleum is so small that it is unlikely to significantly affect overall energy security." That is still true today.
Ethanol is just another example of how out of control our Congress has become. If we spent the billions in yearly subsidies on research into fuel-efficient cars and solar-cells, we would actually reduce our dependency on oil and ethanol.
Watch how many U.S. ethanol producers have IPOs in the near future. Ethanol is purely a boondoggle.
Matt Woodruff
Southern Pines
