Corn ethanol, a poor solution More corn can be seen growing in NE Colorado than before the federally funded incentives and mandates for growing, and for making ethanol. This corporate welfare program is a good example of how not to solve the very real problem of achieving energy independence. Analyses of the various issues involved in using corn-derived ethanol fuel for transportation just do not make ecological, financial or logical sense. The amount of coal, oil, and natural gas energy required to make corn ethanol is more than the energy contained in the ethanol. Because most of this additional energy is sourced from fossil fuels, burning ethanol instead of gasoline actually releases 1.7 times more carbon dioxide for a comparable number of vehicle miles traveled. This is a startling finding and so the reader is encouraged to more deeply research the issue. An in-depth corn ethanol paper may be viewed on the Independence Institute Website. The Federal and Colorado taxpayer funded subsidies for making corn ethanol are about $1.05 for the equivalent energy contained in a gallon of gasoline. If tax-paying consumers had a choice, they may well prefer that the dollar of subsidy be directly applied to their price of gasoline at the pump....