KEILAR: And taking a look now at the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline, $2.70. That is on average what you're paying, which brings us to our next story. Cornfield or oil well? If somebody gave you a choice, you would probably take the oil, but there's gold in them thar cornstalks or at least opportunity, and ethanol is the reason. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports from the heartland.</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush planted the seed.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ethanol has got the largest potential for immediate growth.</s>LAWRENCE: And the industry has been nurtured by government subsidies.</s>PHILIP FLYNN, ENERGY ANALYST: They want to believe that ethanol is a source and their spending a lot of our money to prove it.</s>LAWRENCE: Energy analyst Philip Flynn says it's fueling demand for ethanol's main ingredient. It could lead to the largest corn crop in 60 years.</s>FLYNN: This is a windfall for these farmers.</s>LAWRENCE: Flynn says corn growers are selling their crops for record prices, then they invest in the factories where corn is turned into ethanol and make more money off the tax credits. (on camera): This has the potential to be a record crop. Are corn growers excited about a record profit? TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
A Growing Demand for Ethanol