0 Forces Driving More
duced in 0 , only . million gallons were classed as cellulosic—almost
all came from landfill gas.
Subsidizing biofuel production further enshrined the preeminence
of corn in America. For , 00 miles from Pennsylvania into Colorado,
corn dominates the landscape. Many times over the years, I have traveled
across Nebraska and into eastern Colorado. Each time I have watched
as land once planted in wheat or soybeans was replaced with corn. Just
as dramatic was the increase in center-pivot irrigation, drawing its
water from the High Plains Aquifer System (known in Nebraska as the
Ogallala Aquifer).
On a recent trip, I turned off I- 0 and headed southwest into
Colorado, where corn has likewise replaced wheat and sugar beets. In
a large field I spotted a massive center pivot. Instead of water flowing
through its spray heads, the water gushed out the far end, as if a fire
hydrant had been uncapped, turned on, and then abandoned. The image
of fossil water washing away the soil on a hot summer afternoon stuck
in my mind.
What started as a promise to reduce dependence on foreign oil and
expand renewable energy had ended with society paying farmers to grow
more corn. Close to 90 percent would be exported, ground into animal
feed, or distilled into biofuel. What was left was destined for industrial
use or food products like sweeteners, oil, starch, and beverages.
With subsidies incentivizing more corn production, additional land
was planted. Heavy doses of synthetic fertilizers manufactured from
natural gas were applied. And more fossil water was pumped out of the
ground to achieve optimal yields.
Without consumers picking up the tab, the energy produced from
corn biofuel was not financially viable. In 0 , the National Academies
detailed how biofuel from corn had not lived up to promises.^ Yet the
report made no difference. Corn’s control over cropland increased. Like
the handful of banks who ruled Wall Street and intimidated Washing-
ton, corn ruled over the nation’s land, water, and fossil energy. Corn was
agriculture’s version of “too big to fail.”
The promise of moving the country toward energy independence
was never sincere. Politicians were no more committed to it than Bernie
Madoff was to looking after his clients. So long as the United States buys
and sells oil on the global market, energy independence does not exist,