Leave it to misguided environmentalists to fuel demand for ethanol. Corn is in short supply because it is being used to make ethanol, added to gasoline to reduce reliance on crude oil. And as government corn subsidies increase, farmers are planting more corn.
What may be good for the environment is not so good for beer drinkers. The shift in crops is creating a shortage of hops and barley, two key ingredients in beer — and the result is higher prices for beer. The price hikes have already hit other items in nation's shopping car, everything from milk and bread to snacks.
It's all the more galling because the benefits of ethanol are debatable. Scientific studies have shown it takes as much as 29 percent more energy to process corn into ethanol than the fuel it produces. That makes the higher prices we must pay for food and beer that much harder to swallow.
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