On the "Benefits" of Ethanol - Part 1

I've heard about a few people getting jobs at businesses producing ethanol lately (the plan is to take the businesses public and multi-billion dollar valuations). I've also heard of people in their grandparent years plotting investments in ethanol plants (get in "early"!). I'm also nominally aware that government is providing financial incentives and hand-holding to ethanol producers and that without these financial incentives and without this hand-holding, no business could produce ethanol for commercial sale as a long-term business strategy because it would not be profitable.

I am also aware that there is a body of science called physics.

I am skeptical of ethanol (and bio-diesel and similar "alternative fuel" products). Big government + public investors + questionable science makes me a non-believer.

Then I read this short refutation of the ethanol movement and this USA Today article.

Those two guys point out a reason for skepticism I had not yet considered -- producing ethanol and growing the raw materials that produce ethanol (corn) is very bad for the environment (think fertilizer and pesticides and deforestation). Based on my limited reading on the topic to date I'm convinced that in fact ethanol is WORSE for our environment than hydrocarbons.

Check it out.

Please help!