Is ethanol overhyped?

You know for someone who is "in the know" and is seeking the highest office in the nation speaking on a topic that has been in the forefront of the economy since the early '70's with gas rationing.......you really don't know all that much about alternative energy. Yes you tell us what "we want to hear" , but when the smoke sttles you have never given us a (your) plan.......bt instead the usual rhetoric.

Yes. Just break it down into this concept: it is a complex way of trying to derive energy from the sun. The sun drives photosynthesis in the plant and you harvest it converting it into an energy source. Even if you ignore the issues of land use and source of fertilizer, it still boils down to an indirect way of deriving energy from the sun. Invest the money in developing more efficient solar energy and using government/state land for solar farms - such as along interstate highways.

Absolutely. Ethanol may be the dumbest idea in recent history, putting a green guise on pricey handouts. The "Energy Independence and Security Act," passed by Congress this year, will push US ethanol production to 36bn gallons by 2020, and cost taxpayers $7bn. Thanks to the smorgasbord of subsidies doled out in the bill, the federal government is likely to purchase a third of the US corn crop this year. This misguided hunger is already perverting food markets worldwide. World grain prices have skyrocketed this year, largely because we're growing corn for our gas tanks, instead of to feed to people. Peasants in Mexico rioted earlier this year over the price of tortillas. The IFPRI estimates that ethanol could reduce calorie intake in Africa by 8% by 2020. Worst of all, ethanol has encouraged farmers to plant more corn and less hops on the margin, so beer prices are poised to shoot up, and microbreweries are going under left and right. More hunger, less beer -- sounds dumb to me.