Alternatives to Oil - AND Ethanol

Something has to change in the American psychee soon. When looking for alternatives, we must not just settle for the first economical one we find, we must not settle until the impact on other sectors of the economy are as minimal as possible. Notice the prices at the store and your favorite restaurant are going up? Here's why: Ethanol. Cows eat it, which drives up dairy and beef, and the same goes for poultry. What the ethanol advocates don't tell you is that it takes over 25lb of corn to make ONE GALLON of ethanol. Do the math. Every large city in this country would have to become farmland. Or we take over Canada and make that our farmland - just kidding!! But do you see what I'm saying? Ethanol is NOT the answer. It's only driving up meat, dairy, and cereal prices. There are already forecasts of $4 gallons of milk or more by year's end. Egg prices are on the way up. Cereal boxes are approaching $4 if you buy name brand (thus my purchase of generics). I know things are generally more expensive out here on the coast, but still. It makes me want to move out to amish country, get a couple cows, a shotgun to go deer hunting, grow a garden, and go back to the way people lived a couple hundred years ago. So what is the solution, you ask (since I'm so anti-ethanol)? How about a FEW solutions?1. Solar panels. Solar energy is infinite, and technology is starting to make them more efficient.2. Hydrogen fuel. We're starting to come up with ways to harness it better and more economically. And we all know there are times we need the byproduct - water! Imagine stopping for a fuel-up and not having to go inside for a bottle of water!! 3. Wind power. You can still have your farm or garden around turbines, you just have to plant around them. Maybe you'll have to do a LITTLE hand-harvesting right around them. Sounds like a part-time job for a few driven kids during harvest season. 4. Water. China is building the largest dam in the world, large and powerful enough to provide electricity to the entire city of Beijing! Imagine if we figured out how to do it here with minimal environmental impact!! I'm just running out of patience with the ethanol advocates. I understand farmers are loving it as they now have a cash crop, but I'm sure they also see the effects on higher feed prices. We really need to focus on hydrogen especially as it would not only cut oil dependence, it would cut pollution too and lessen our water consumption from nature! And while I'm all for recycling, I'm not about to go for recycling urine. Sorry, can't do it. Just can't get myself to think about it even!So what are we to do? Where will we go from here? And how will we convince our politicians to cut their big oil influences and wake up to reality? Or at least get big oil to start looking at alternatives so they will not be out of business when we cut out oil dramatically? And I truly believe SOMEDAY we will be oil independent. That's IF humanity still exists... What's your opinion?