Alan Reynolds writes,

Ethanol already gets an indefensible tax break at the pump of 51 to 71 cents a gallon, but Congress now wants to compel everyone to add it to their tanks. But doing so would leave us with less fuel at higher prices. Why? Because there is much less energy in eight gallons of ethanol than in the seven gallons of gasoline it takes to produce it.

…Check the official mileage estimates at www.fueleconomy.gov. A Dodge Stratus gets 20 miles to the gallon in city driving on gasoline, but that drops to 15 mpg on E85 (the 85 percent ethanol fuel) — and highway mileage drops from 28 mpg to 20 mpg.

2-1/2 years ago, in Oil Econ 101, I wrote,

the worst refuge of scoundrels, in my opinion, is the line that “we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil in order to fight terrorism.” When I hear that, my baloney-sandwich detector really starts vibrating. I am ready to reject whatever is on offer, whether it be oil drilling in Alaska, regulations on SUV’s, or some new synthetic fuels program.

Here is everything you need to know about energy policy:

Energy doesn’t come from pork.