Today in Biofuel Opinion: German PM says “rising global food prices have nothing to do biofuels”; critic says “ethanol apologists” are “galling”

April 18, 2008

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Bloomberg that “Millions of people are becoming wealthy, and when 100 million Chinese start drinking milk then that’s going to have an impact on food prices…rising global food prices have nothing to do biofuels.”

BND writes that “Ethanol leads only to higher food prices and greater greenhouse gas emissions…the USDA estimates that corn feed price increases added nearly 9 percent to the price of beef last year….Ethanol advocates claim that rising corn costs have contributed only modestly to the overall increase in food prices. They’re not being entirely honest, as they’re only counting the direct costs of ethanol. They don’t count, for example, increases in soybean prices resulting from farmers switching to the more lucrative corn crop. Soybean crops dropped by 11 million acres last year - much of it used to produce corn.

The Renewable Fuel Association says “The addition of ethanol to U.S. gasoline supplies not only helps keep gasoline prices down, but also helps keep the price of crude oil lower than it otherwise would be which prevents the cost of food from increasing even more.”

Robert Bryce writes in CounterPunch that “The outrages of the ethanol mandates are growing by the day….Last week, a study funded by American beef, pork and chicken producers estimated that the total cost to taxpayers of the corn ethanol mandates now exceeds $33 billion per year. That’s equal to about $106 per American citizen. While the soaring cost of the ethanol are maddening, even more galling are the continuing claims by a group of ethanol apologists who insist that the ethanol industry is having no effect on food prices.”

Students at Boston University recently voted down the views of a Bryce-led team in the “Great Debate” on ethanol; an edited version of the debate can be seen here.

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Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Opinion