It looks like we're starting to wake up to the insane thinking that somehow corn is the answer to our energy problems. According to an article in today's WSJ profits on ethanol are down, as are stocks in companies that rushed in to try to make a buck on the idea.

See, the problem with ethanol is the cost to grow and convert the corn needed to produce it is too high. Politicians out to get the vote didn't exactly lie to us when they said ethanol would reduce our reliance on foreign oil - it did. They just didn't bother to tell us, or they didn't realize, it would drive up the cost of everything else that depends on that corn we're diverting to fuel.

It's not that I think reducing our dependence on foreign oil is a bad thing. I'd just rather do something about it on a full stomach.

Now, this news about Google's investment in renewable energy makes a lot more sense. They're investing R&D dollars with the goal of making renewable energy generation methods cheaper than coal. The idea makes very good business sense to Google because of the enormous amounts of energy it takes to power their data centers.

I don't know about you, but to me it really feels good to see this. Google doesn't have to worry about being re-elected. They're not about to invest their money in pet projects cooked up to placate a constituency rather than actually solve a problem.