At least we're making some progress -- Dino agrees "that corn ethanol is not our best option"
In any case, if you want to argue, instead of crying foul about possible affiliations, try some logical arguments centered on the topic instead.
BTW, oil companies would also be affected by by the drying out of the supplies, and they also need to look for possible replacements.
In any case, here is a quote from the linked article:
The U.S. agriculture lobby is incredibly powerful, and it has somehow managed to convince Congress that our next 100 years of energy should also come from the sun. Not in its most efficient route, directly transformed by the magic of electronics from solar rays into electricity via large and small grids of photovoltaic cells. But in the most inefficient way possible: From the growing of corn and then its refinement into fuel.
How inefficient is the ethanol solution? When you break the "agrofuels" system down scientifically, you can see that 99.9% of the energy in sunlight is lost in the process, with the greatest waste coming in the creation of ammonia-based fertilizer from natural gas, and in the refinery. That is, for every unit of energy that is put into creating agriculture-based fuel, almost three-quarters of it is dissipated before it actually does any work. The greatest amount of energy lost is not in the creation of ammonia-based fertilizer, as many believe, but in the refinery.
Do you disagree with any parts? Why?
While I do not necessarily agree with the "99.9%"; it's still true that one need to put in lots of energy to create ethanol using the current methods, and so currently most people would be better off if we were to use the fossil fuels used in the process directly. There are several viable alternatives with much less waste (but much less political clout, too)
IMHO, ethanol, using any grown source with the current technology (fermentation and distillation) is not viable in the long run. There is minuscule chance that it may be viable using various waste products, but I wouldn't bet on that either.