Drought or No Drought - 40% of the corn crop goes to ethanol

Is this brilliant or what.

40 Percent of Corn Goes to Ethanol
By Greg Pollowitz
June 25, 2011 11:10 A.M.

Steven Rattner writes in today’s New York Times:

FEELING the need for an example of government policy run amok? Look no further than the box of cornflakes on your kitchen shelf. In its myriad corn-related interventions, Washington has managed simultaneously to help drive up food prices and add tens of billions of dollars to the deficit, while arguably increasing energy use and harming the environment.

Even in a crowd of rising food and commodity costs, corn stands out, its price having doubled in less than a year to a record $7.87 per bushel in early June. Booming global demand has overtaken stagnant supply.

[link to www.nationalreview.com]