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 ) .
There are many ethanol-related deaths every year in Iowa .