EWG (Environmental Working Group) found that the largest chunk of Federal subsidies for renewable energy has been for ethanol. The corn based ethanol industry received $3 billion in Federal tax credits in 2007, more than four times the $690 million in tax credits for all other forms of renewable energy including solar, wind and geothermal.

Some critics argue that Federal subsidies for corn based ethanol have not produced the results needed to solve our current energy crisis and dependency on foreign oil.

One important factor in ethanol production is water consumption. One state, Minnesota which keeps records on water consumption reports that on average it takes 4.5 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. Not included in this report is the cost in water usage needed to irrigate the corn to produce the feedstock.

Enter the environmentalists who argue that ethanol production is polluting our nation's water, eroding our soil, plowing up precious habitat and worst of all most likely contributing to global warming. There is growing concern that ethanol will not solve our growing energy problem and it was previously intended.

Should we continue with our current subsidies for ethanol?