Biofuels not as simple as food vs. fuel
In case you haven't noticed, it not only takes more dollars to fill the gas tank to go to the grocery store, it takes more dollars at the checkout stand.
According to federal information, home food prices have gone up 6 percent since 2005, and are expected to be up another 4-5 percent this year.
Leading the way are eggs, up 35.5 percent over that period, and expected to climb up to 4 percent this year. Fish and seafood are up 9.5 percent and fruits and vegetables are up nearly 9 percent.
Like the fuel it takes to bring the food home from the store, the price of the fuel it takes to haul the food to the store is climbing daily.
Unfortunately, the ethanol industry is an easy target for people looking for a scapegoat. Land that would otherwise be used to grow crops for food is being converted to corn grown for ethanol, the argument goes, putting food in competition with energy for the first time.
And, the ethanol industry admits it may have caused a 4 percent increase in the price of food, a fraction of the 20 percent estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, has a point when he says things might actually be worse if not for ethanol, which he says is lowering demand for oil enough to keep prices 30 percent below where they would be otherwise.
"All the crises we're facing have one common denominator: the every tightening oil market," Dinneen said. "We cannot afford to jettison the promise of biofuels due to this manufactured hysteria over a fight between food vs. fuel."
Sen. John McCain is a latecomer to support of ethanol, and fellow Arizona congressional delegate Rep. Jeff Flake is calling for repeal of government incentives designed to boost ethanol production. Earlier, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas proposed freezing the ethanol production mandate at current levels. In December, Congress passed an energy bill that mandates a fivefold increase in ethanol production by 2022.
Biofuels are more than a matter of simple economics.
The United States has long followed a cheap food policy, and that should not be changed radically.
But it's in our vital national interest to reduce our dependence on foreign oil as quickly and effectively as possible.