Ethanol will not save us

This is what I'm hearing in the news:

A growing proportion of American farmland -- about 20% -- is now being used for growing crops to produce ethanol. This is taking food away from people, to be replaced with food for machines. It is raising the price of food because there is less room and fewer farmers to produce it. It is costing Mexicans and latinos in the southwestern US twice as much to buy their staple food, corn, to the point of being unaffordable to millions. And that it would take 100% of the existing corn production in the US right now to produce a mere 12% of the fuel needed. Ethanol is also an energy-intensive substance, taking almost as much energy to produce as is produced from it, with only a net energy gain of 25%.

And information that's not in the news but can be easily found is about the environmental impact of producing corn. This monocrop requires chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce, as well as enormous amounts of water. And right now the United States are experiencing record levels of drought and water shortage. Corn crops can quickly render a farmland infertile after a generation or less. Just like fossil fuels, ethanol is a short-sighted solution with permanent consequences that affect the livelihood of people and the health of the environment.

Articles:
USA Today
New York Times
New York Sun