Until recently, the world believed that fossil fuels would provide their nations with an infinite amount of energy. However, faced with the reality of depleting reserves along with the consequences of pollution and global warming, countries have felt compelled to experiment with alternative energy sources. Ethanol was once hailed as the United States' revolutionary replacement for crude oil. Nearly a decade later, the American public is still largely uninformed about the complications associated with switching to ethanol. The most controversial aspect surrounding ethanol is the use of corn as a source. Furthermore, the actual and ancillary costs of ethanol production go far beyond simply refining corn into fuel. Finally, examining ethanol itself will show how problematic and destructive this fuel is when mixed with gasoline. Ethanol is not a practical alternative fuel source, and the United States must abandon harmful ethanol legislation to safeguard food supplies and remove this destructive fuel from pumps. Most people can easily link a rise in the prices of corn products when more corn is diverted to refineries each year. However, corn used for general human consumption in the form of starch, sugar, syrups, cooking oils, etc. it constitutes only 12-15% of the harvest. Before the ethanol boom, 75% of all corn produced in the United States fed livestock consisting primarily of cows, pigs, and chickens (Magness and Markle Par 9). Faced with rising feed prices each year due to tight supply and high demand for corn, livestock farmers pass those costs on to consumers. Consumers are directly affected, whether they are standing in line at the checkout for groceries or sitting at a restaurant counter... middle of paper, consumers must abandon harmful ethanol legislation to safeguard food supplies and remove this destructive fuel from the pumps. Growing corn to produce ethanol releases chemicals into the environment, requires a lot of coal and natural gas energy to turn into a usable fuel, and causes unwanted wear and tear inside the equipment that burns it. Modern biofuels are not a suitable long-term solution for any developed nation. Furthermore, the idea of ​​diverting a highly dependent food source to refineries could have disastrous results when agricultural production is dependent on weather conditions. A couple of consecutive, dry, unproductive years could result in significant food shortages. Unless the United States creates a more efficient way to produce biofuels and invents a way to influence the climate, ethanol legislation should be reversed and production for blending should cease.