I don't understand - isn't this really a no brainer? Sooner or later the oil is going to run out - we have to start looking at alternatives. Ethanol may not be the answer now but with research it could be a viable alternative.
they are looking at alternatives. It's going to be the oil compnaies that run alternative fuels. It's why food is tight - they used all the fields for ethanol growth (bush gave em $ to grow it for fuel research).
it'll happen when it's time - in ten to 15 years.
before then, we're going to use what's in the middle east, and then probably sell US oil when everyone else runs low. Or it'll be a co-energy thing perhaps... cars run on gas, big transport units (trucks, trains) run on somethign else.
I don't worry at all about the energy. They'll do it when it's time. Right now, they're getting rich. That $ will be available for R&D or that rough transition time.