Why are we importing corn to Iowa?

We have plenty of coal. If coal turns out to be concentrated plant life, there may be a biological process we can apply turn it into natural gas. The speaker describes this as biological force rather than brute force.

What we need is a Norman Borlaug of energy.

(See also: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/193)
(See also: http://www.ted.com/)