From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Biofuels, the benefits, and the bad news.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is an archived edition of To the Point from Public Radio International at Daily Look at the Issues Americans care about most.

The rushes on for biofuels to independence on oil, help solve global warming, and create jobs for the rural poor.

Corn Belt farmers are giving thanks today for ethanol, which brings incentives and subsidies from states and the federal government.

But last May, the UN reported that biofuels may cause

more environmental problems than they solve, as well as increasing the price of food. On to the

point, the pros and cons of energy from agricultural products. Is it really cleaner and cheaper? Is

the U.S. moving too fast? On reporter's notebook later on, is thin, really healthier than fat. First, here's the

news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and

Catherine T. McArthur Foundation. Hello again. Warren Alney back with To the Point. The UN has given mixed reviews to

biofuels that produce energy from agricultural products. They may be counterproductive for the

environment. On To the Point, America's corn farmers are reaping a financial harvest from ethanol.

Is it really cleaner and cheaper? What does it mean for the price of food?

On reporter's notebook this Thanksgiving day, a new study says it's healthy to put on a little weight.

Will that change American standards of beauty and fashion? First, this news update. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that failure is not an option at next week's Annapolis Conference on the Middle East. At stake, she contends, is nothing less than the future of the entire region. The most hawkish of American Jews are opposed, but Israeli officials call it a golden opportunity. So where are the mainstream Jewish groups whose missions call for support of the

Israeli government? Orrineer is the spokesman for Americans for Peace Now. Welcome to our program.

Thank you. Thanks for having me. You've said there's a very loud silence. What are you talking about?

Well, it hit me when there was a group of clerics that came here from the region, from Israel and the West Bank.

There was the chief rabbi of Israel.

There were the chief clerics of the Palestinian Authority, Muslim and Christians.

...