As comedian Jimmy Durante used to say “Wot a revoltin’ development dis is!”

The greens and lots of others call for more ethanol, more ethanol. They have pressured politicians to grant subsidies to companies that produce it. And to pay people to buy cars that run on ethanol.

Meanwhile, distillers are building ethanol plants. They offer top dollar to farmers to grow and deliver the corn to feed the ethanol plants. And farmers have dramatically increased their corn plantings.

Wunnerful, wunnerful? Nope. Revoltin’.

First, the prices for corn have shot upward. Forcing impoverished Mexicans to pay more for their most basic food. (Not to mention our foods.) Second, we are burning huge quantities of fuel to produce the corn. Huge. So our net gains are small. Third, other crop prices have also shot upward. Because farmers are growing less of those crops. Because they replaced them with corn plantings. Life is complicated, ain’t it?

Next, the farmers have to fertilize the corn. If you are so green you believe farmers can get huge yields without fertilizer, I have to ask you to trust me on this.

A lot of corn growers also have to dump thousands of gallons of water on every acre of corn they grow. And the intensive systems they use erode the soil.

The remains of much of this extra fertilizer ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. As farmers plant more corn, it will pour into the Chesapeake Bay. In these waters it will stimulate growth of algae. Which will sink to the bottom and suck up oxygen there. Which is creating - and will create more - dead zones in the water.

Seems like an opportunity for someone to develop algae farming or different fertilizers. But while we wait for that, I can hear Jimmy Durante chanting.

And here is a bitter ingredient in the revoltin’ mix: If every ear of corn we grow was used for fuel we would replace only 15 per cent of our nation’s gasoline. I suppose we would have to use a lot more energy to try to remedy the environmental damage. The damage caused by the corn for the ethanol.