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US voter poll finds 49 percent says oil prices to blame for rising food costs; 8 percent blame ethanol

July 18, 2008

The Renewable Fuels Association released results of a survey of US voters on their views regarding the causes of rising food costs. 49 percent identified the increased cost of gasoline and fuel, while 8 percent identified the increased use of grain for ethanol. Other answers, such as corporate takeover of food production, Indian and Chinese demand, weather and speculation, received between 7 and 11 percent of responses respectively.

Ethanol policy polling background

In Washington this spring, a poll by the National Center for Public Policy Research concluded that 41% of Americans want Congress to repeal the corn ethanol mandate entirely, while 35% want Congress to repeal the law it passed last December to double it. Just 6% want the mandate to increase as planned while 5% want it to be even expanded further.

An analysis of the underlying question in the survey found that telephone respondents were given a specific backgrounder, which highlighted negative connotations associated with corn ethanol. The backgrounder said:

“Congress approved a law last December that doubles the amount of corn ethanol we are required to use in our gasoline. Last year, ethanol production consumed nearly one-quarter of all U.S.-produced corn. It is expected to use about one-third of this year’s corn crop and use increasing amounts of corn through 2015, unless the corn ethanol mandate is scaled back or repealed.

Supporters of this corn ethanol mandate say that the law promotes America’s energy security, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and provides financial benefits for farmers and agricultural businesses.

Opponents of this corn ethanol mandate say that ethanol production is increasing food prices, produces more net greenhouse gas emissions than conventional gasoline, and contributes to world hunger by converting food to fuel, while doing little to promote energy security. It has been estimated converting the entire U.S. corn crop to ethanol would reduce gasoline consumption by only a few percentage points.”

Now that you know more about the corn ethanol mandate, what do you think Congress should do now…

1. Eliminate the corn ethanol mandate entirely (41%)
2. Keep the corn ethanol mandate similar to the level it is today by repealing the 2007 law to double it by 2015. (35%)
3. Double the corn ethanol mandate, as planned (6%)
4. Increase the corn ethanol mandate by an even greater amount (5%)
5. Undecided (6%)
6. DK/Refused (6% )

Now, still thinking about the ethanol mandate…

Two new studies, one from Princeton University and the other from the University of Minnesota in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, found that ethanol contributes more greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline to the atmosphere, while expanded ethanol production encourages habitat destruction.

Now knowing this, do you believe the ethanol mandate should be…

1. Eliminated to reduce ethanol production and use (42%)
2. Partly eliminated to reduce ethanol production and use (25%)
3. Left unchanged (16%)
4. Partly expanded to increase ethanol production and use (6%)
5. Significantly Expanded to increase ethanol production and use (2%)
6. Undecided (5%)
7. DK/Refused (4%

Recently in Canada, the Renewable Fuels Association said that a poll of Canadians found 74 percent in support of biofuels mandates contained in the biofuels bill now in front of the Canadian Senate. The poll also found that 67 percent of Canadian support increasing the mandates to 10 percent for ethanol and 5 percent for biodiesel.

The Canadian poll’s numbers are similar to those to a poll commissioned last November by the Renewable Fuels Association, which found that 74 percent of Americans believe that production of domestically produced renewable fuels like ethanol should be increased.

In addition, 87 percent of Americans maintain the federal government should actively support the development of a renewable fuels industry in this country, and 77 percent think Congress should encourage oil refiners to blend more ethanol into their gasoline products.

77 percent said that the government should provide incentives to encourage refiners to reduce their use of oil and increase use of renewables. 75 percent view ethanol as somewhat important in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with 41 percent viewing ethanol as extremely important in this respect.

84 percent of Americans believe something other than ethanol is at the root cause of rising food prices. Specifically, higher oil prices (46 percent), increased global demand (15 percent), and adverse weather conditions like drought (14 percent) were deemed to have a greater impact on food prices than ethanol production (7 percent).

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln poll of rural Nebraskans found that 77 percent of respondents said that Americans had to change their lifestyles to reduce energy consumption, and that 79 percent of respondents said that corn ethanol would be an “important:” source of energy while 81 percent agreed that ethanol from other sources would be an important energy source. Among renewable energy options, solar and wind energy were the most popular, with 89 percent of respondents saying they would be “important” sources in the future. The complete poll and responses are here.

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    Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Policy 

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