Drought Withers U.S. Corn Crop, Heats Debate on Ethanol

Drought
Withers U.S. Corn Crop, Heats Debate on Ethanol
Predictions for
a bumper crop in May withered 26 percent by August. Scarcity has pushed corn
prices to all-time highs. Farmers are plowing under scorched fields, and
cornhusks are blowing across roads. The mandate, meanwhile, amounts to a
requirement that 42 percent of this year’s crop be pumped into gas tanks.