100 MILLION TONS of cereal foods was converted to fuel in 2006 alone. That astounding number does NOT count the conversion of soya beans, palm oil, and sugar cane - all major food supplies to the world. That number will only be going up, the U.S. specifically has no plans to cut back ethanol production. In fact, our country is foolishly intending on increasing production as much as possible. All in the name of 'lowering our dependency on foreign oil.' There's an important fact to remember about ethanol America, it's a foolish, inefficient means of obtaining energy. Ethanol takes just as much energy to produce as is gotten out of it.
This ridiculous notion that ethanol will somehow save us from oil and pollution is flawed to it's very core. It is being pushed and lobbied by big agriculture, not small farmers. It is the corn industry specifically that is the driving force, and they have succeeded in brainwashing the general public into believing their cause is a good one. It's not.
If you can't understand that, at least look at the negative impact biofuel production has had on the world. Riots, civil unrest and starvation are spreading like wildfire. Here in the developed world you might be complaining about filling up your gas tank, but in countries like Haiti and Egypt people are fighting to EAT. This is not merely a problem of hunger, but one that will quickly escalate into one of security and humanitarian crisis.
