text: Ethanol is a ludicrous fuel made out of corn , at a cost far higher than the petroleum it replaces , produced with a huge government tax subsidy , which started during the energy crisis a quarter-century ago and has long since become a classic case study of stupid policy entrenched by special interests ( in this case farmers and Archer Daniels Midland , the company responsible for the fabulous discovery that if you tell the government what to do in commercials on every Sunday talk show , the government apparently is powerless to resist ) .
  
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  Production of ethanol is less expensive compared to petrol .