In defense of ethanol

The Washington Post - Letters to the Editor
Monday, December 13, 2010; 12:28 AM

The Dec. 9 editorial "A good place to start cutting" said that "there are far better ways to address oil dependence and greenhouse emissions" than aiding ethanol production. It didn't specify any of them. In fact, we believe that, except for ethanol, there are no fuel alternatives doing this now.

Our 12 billion gallons of ethanol a year can go far in helping displace foreign oil, taking the place of 10 percent of our gasoline supply. As efficiencies increase in corn and ethanol production, we can do much more even without boosting corn acreage.

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