Ethanol: The American dream vs. dreaded reality

The reliability of Ethanol as a durable and lasting means to substitute gasoline is a hotly debated controversy today.  Gasoline companies have accused promoters of Ethanol of compromising their moral integrity with the assumption that they know ethanol is not a reasonable means of cutting down gas consumption.  Ethanol supporters are accused of planting false hope in the minds of idealistic yet scientifically uninformed Americans.

            While ethanol may be of small significance, it is literally a drop in the bucket in the long run and its effects would not even be likely to take effect sometime in this century.  Politicians are believed to be completely aware of the problems in seeing ethanol as the solution but keep on promoting it anyways to fulfill the idealistic hopes of Americans and get into office.

            The promise of ethanol has restricted oil companies from being able to drill in areas where there is still a sufficient supply such as Alaska. This becomes more and more problematic as the world economy develops a higher demand. The price of oil on the open market has skyrocketed as India and China begin to vie for oil that once head mostly west.

            Americans may expect to see oil prices decrease as ethanol allegedly advances but they will only see the price increase as oil refineries are prevented by politicians from using more local resources.  Americans may believe they will have more in their pockets than is really true and misallocate their funds accordingly. The promise of ethanol is used by politicians to play on the absolutist belief system of so many Americans who are looking for a quick solution to an endlessly complex problem.

I would like to add that I am leaving the Iraq war out of my post to simplify what would otherwise be a never ending and overly complex argument.