Sacrificing Our Children to the 'Corn God'

Because of that, a number of recent studies show that it takes just about as much energy to produce ethanol as you get when you burn ethanol. "Its net energy balance is zero, more or less," said Taylor.

On top of this, emissions from ethanol-fueled cars are no cleaner for the environment. According to atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University, a switch to ethanol won't do anything to address climate change and ethanol fumes may actually be worse for public health than the fumes from gas-powered vehicles.

Emissions from ethanol-fueled cars contain more of the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, Jacobson said, and the vehicles will also boost atmospheric levels of ozone, a major component of smog, which will weaken people's immune systems and cause lung damage.

Also, the increase of corn production to make the ethanol will lead to the use of more fertilizer and more pesticides, and that will create more greenhouse gases.

Why Do Politicians Like Ethanol?

So if ethanol isn't any cheaper or better for the environment, why is it so popular among politicians?

"It's no mystery that people who want to be president support the corn ethanol program," said Taylor. "The first caucus is in the state of Iowa, and if you're not willing to sacrifice children to the corn God you will not get out of the Iowa primary with more than 1 percent of the vote."

Presidential candidates know that if they want to do well with Midwest voters, they need to buddy up with corn producers. By pushing to subsidize ethanol, candidates are able to keep voters happy in critical Midwestern election states, and seem like friends of the environment. It also lets them convince voters that we're moving toward the hallowed state of "energy independence."

When I interviewed Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, he griped that "we have allowed our dependency on imported petroleum to grow and grow and grow -- that's not healthy for our country."

I asked Bayh, "But isn't the ethanol program robbing Peter to pay Paul -- with all of us being the Peters and the corn producers being the Pauls?"