Brazil can make ethanol cheap because sugar cane grows like a weed down there. It's also ten times more efficient to use cane than corn for ethanol production I'd say junk the corn subsidies and sugar tariffs that a previous poster mentioned and send our former petrodollars to Brazil.

This article reinforces some of what the author Robert Zubrin (a "rocket scientist" who has also written on the topic of energy independence) has suggested. I saw a video of a talk he gave at Google. His main point was that Congress could change the entire energy equation by simply passing a mandate that all cars sold in the US (starting in say 2 or 3 years) must be flex fuel capable. This involves a more corrosion resistant tank, fuel lines, and a chip that can adjust air/fuel mix and timing. As was noted in this article the added cost to a new car is almost negligible (around $100 to $200). This would almost immediately eliminate any issue of availability since independent stations would have a real market opportunity especially with gasoline likely to be over $3 a gallon. It is the sort of pump starting action that is almost ideal for government action.

If the price of gas plummets that would not be an issue for the consumer since he could fill up with gasoline. A result would be that the price of gasoline would be restrained by the need of oil companies to actually compete with farmers here and with any luck (ie political action) farmers from around the world and third world farmers in particular. The complaint about food prices is a red herring but requires more evidence than can reasonably be discussed in this forum. I suggest at least reading Zubrin's book on the subject "Energy Victory".

that's really what's holding it up. States need a mechanism to suck every last dime out first. But don't worry, they will. And what with 1 out of 4 pumps nationally overcharging, the states can make a bounty.

I was staying at my brother's place in Northern Italy and purchased his Alfetta that had been retrofitted with natural gas. Natural gas was much cheaper than gasoline, so the private sector happily retrofitted their cars and there was enough demand to support a couple of high pressure filling stations in town. Natural gas works. It has been in wide use in many countries for more than 30 years. It is slightly less carbon intensive than gasoline. My vote would be for a plug-in hybrid with natural gas as the back up fuel. An internal combustion engine running with natural gas would work now. Down the road, why not a free piston Stirling engine fueled by natural gas generating electricity to charge batteries in a series hybrid configuration? The Stirling, as an external combustion engine, is the ultimate flex fuel engine. The Stirling has not been used in an auto because it has low power density and requires warm-up, but as a series hybrid back-up it would be great because it's very efficient.

- If the author is willing to do so, well, I can send him a Fiat Siena if he sends me enough money to do so.

- The ethanol program beggan as a subsidized one, but it´s something auto-sufficient now. The problem is that we are talking about a country with abundant water and no snow(In most of the US it´s the contrary!). I don´t think that it would have enough space to supply US needs because even considering Brazil´s low energy consumption the space required by these sugarcane belts are enormous.

- I think that the problem is not the sugarcane people of Florida, but the Corn lobby of the midwest.

Wouldn’t feeding the US with sugar cane based Brazilian ethanol lead to more clear cutting of rainforests?

Bound and gagged by geological corporate thinking, Detroit will produce nothing new. Remember when Japanese cars were a source of bemusement and wonder? I do. No one's laughing any more.

Why didn't Ford come out with the Prius? Do you think that any US automaker will innovate ANYTHING except for more cupholders?

Creative people do not rise in corporate ranks. Which leads to a think strata of soulless corporate suits at the top of virtually every corporation I've ever seen from the inside.

Not just creative people, but people who love cars. When did Detroit roll out anything that spoke to a car lover? The 64 Mustang?

The race is over, and it was over decades ago. Like American steel, American autos are a relic of the past. All we manufacture in this country are rich executives.

A genius engineer friend of mine adapted an aircooled VW engine to run on propane, only to discover that the hoopla around LP-powered vehicles in the late 70s meant that an LP-refueling network was set up for tax purposes but that they really were not interested in selling propane to individual users, and the LP stations that could be found clearly did not want to have anything to do with an individual genius inventor.