Ethanol: Behind the Buzz

From the White House to Wall Street, ethanol has moved to the heart of national debate about energy, security and the environment.

Its champions promise that it will win energy independence for the U.S.; aid its farmers; weaken hostile oil-subsidized regimes in Tehran, Caracas and Moscow; and better the environment. But the skeptics see little more than a massive agricultural subsidy dressed in patriotic and green rhetoric.

In March, President Bush traveled to Brazil to sign a landmark agreement encouraging ethanol innovation and trade, and then to Detroit to press the CEOs of General Motors(GM Quote), Ford(F Quote) and DaimlerChrysler(DCX Quote) to produce ethanol "flex-fuel" vehicles. ...