Grain to produce 1 tank of ethanol could feed 1 person for a year. [View All]

[Avalux]

I heard that statistic this morning and it keeps rolling around in my head.

A long time ago, I made the decision to become a vegetarian partly as an act of conservation. The amount of grain needed to feed animals for human consumption could be consumed directly by people and no one would go hungry (see Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappe).

Now we have the ethanol dilemma....

With the world heading towards an imminent food shortage, is it wise to put our apples in the ethanol basket? Why create a limited fuel source that puts driving cars in competition with eating? Where is the electric car, the hydrogen fuel cell car?

Does anyone else get pissed by the environmentally-friendly touchy-feely commercials now out by the big oil companies?

These are questions I have, while that ethanol stat keeps rolling around in my head (and I'm supposed to be working). x(