One Challenge

I believe that one of the most important issues that goes undetected is the research of Ethanol as a fuel. Ethanol is a type of alcohol found in many everyday items such as drinking alcohol and thermometers. It is also found in our gasoline - most gasoline in the United States is approximately 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. The problem with this is that the majority of ethanol in the United States comes from corn. Corn is the basic feed for livestock of many sorts. Now there is more and more corn is being used to produce ethanol, which means there is less for livestock to feed upon. Considering there is less corn to feed the livestock, the farmers must increase the prices of their products so that they may meet the supply they need to maintain normal crop. This process continues and the outcome yields higher prices for chicken, beef, milk, etc. For the most part, ethanol is not worth researching. In fact, the only reason that the U.S. has started to include ethanol in gasoline is due to its more efficient burning - it reduces more ground level ozone than pure gasoline. Given that we are spending money to research further into uses for ethanol, and that it is not going far, what is the point in continuing such wasteful acts? The entire process only hurts consumers. The sad part is that these consumers include every family in America. Decreasing supplies in corn lead to higher food prices, and higher food prices reduce spending which in turn slows down the economy. Sure, this isn't the hottest issue at hand, but when the economy is suffering so much that people are losing their jobs left and right, every little bit helps.