Time’s Breaking News: Ethanol Is Bad

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Mother Jones needs your help. Our fiscal year ends today, and we still need $60,000 in online donations to get to break-even, or a lot closer. We’ve already cut $1 million in costs. We can't afford to come up short. Learn more about why this is so urgent in “News Never Pays,” or about our finances and nonprofit operation here, and please support the journalism you get from us if you can right now. We need more help than normal.

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Time‘s cover story this week debunks the idea that ethanol holds the promise of clean energy. But that’s old news, right? Back in November, Mother Jones‘ “The Ethanol Effect” broke down America’s newest cash crop, kernel by kernel. It reveals that growing one acre of corn requires 110 gallons of gasoline, and that ethanol’s net energy output is far less than that of conventional fuel. Check out all the raw numbers here.

—Celia Perry