Most of us know that it's time to reduce our reliance on oil. Many of us also think that ethanol is a great, environmentally-friendly way to do it.

But the rush to produce crop-based ethanol means we're about to leap from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.

This week, corn prices surged to a 10-year high due to increased ethanol production. Unfortunately, the soaring prices also mean that people in Mexico will have to pay 25 percent more to make their primary staple, the corn tortilla.

In a piece for the Huffington Post, prominent environmental analyst Lester Brown, summed up the problem like this:

We need to make sure that in trying to solve one problem--our dependence on imported oil--we do not create a far more serious one: soaring grain prices and potential chaos in the world food economy.

Due to soaring gas prices last year, ethanol distilleries started popping up faster than a bag of microwave popcorn. And it didn't take long for people to see the big picture. Part of the problem is that when corn prices rise, so do prices for wheat and rice. Experts warn that this will affect food prices all over the world.

On a personal level, the trade-off probably makes a lot of us feel a bit queasy. As more Americans become familiar with the toll that crop-based ethanol will take on our planet, will we continue to produce it and view it as a viable alternative? Will the wealthy really feed our driving habit -- not to mention our car racing habit -- while the poor struggle to put food on their tables?

It's time to get a bus pass.