Portland - The ethanol refineries sprouting across the Corn Belt are typically touted as desperately needed economic engines for rural towns, a boon for American farmers and a way to ease the heavy dependence on foreign oil.
When James Clear hears the word ethanol, he instead thinks about the tons of pollutants that will come from the 50-acre industrial complex being built on the edge of this eastern Indiana town.
"It would just kill me looking out on our playground there and picturing our kids breathing that air," said Clear, a chiropractor who sold the house on family land after learning a South Dakota company planned to build an ethanol plant a half-mile away.
Ethanol has long been touted as a cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline and it carries the image of an environmentally friendly fuel since it's derived from plants and plant waste. Experts say replacing gas with ethanol blends will reduce greenhouse gases and help the fight against global warming.
But the more than 200 U.S. refineries in operation or under construction - mostly in a swath from Nebraska and Kansas east into Ohio - also emit thousands of tons of pollutants a year, including nitrogen oxide, a key element of smog.....LINK
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