Kudos to the New York Times for Sunday’s article critically examining the United States’ dubious infatuation with ethanol. A sample:

For all its allure, though, there are hidden risks to the boom. Even as struggling local communities herald the expansion of this ethanol-industrial complex and politicians promote its use as a way to decrease America’s energy dependence on foreign oil, the ethanol phenomenon is creating some unexpected jitters in crucial corners of farm country.

A few agricultural economists and food industry executives are quietly worrying that ethanol, at its current pace of development, could strain food supplies, raise costs for the livestock industry and force the use of marginal farmland in the search for ever more acres to plant corn.…

But many energy experts are also questioning the benefits of ethanol to the nation’s fuel supply. While it is a renewable, domestically produced fuel that reduces gasoline pollution, large amounts of oil or natural gas go into making ethanol from corn, leaving its net contribution to reducing the use of fossil fuels much in doubt.

The article is not without its faults; for instance, it gives an uncritical airing of the opinion that American agriculture should be used for “food first, then feed” for livestock, “and last fuel.” (If the economics are such that demand for ethanol is more intense than the demand for corn chips, then why shouldn’t U.S. corn go to ethanol? Of course, that’s an enormous “if.”) Still, the NYT article is a very welcome departure from the claptrap on ethanol offered by other media.