Corn Commentary

Food vs Fuel a “Global Myth”

An op-ed in the Chicago Tribune this week that calls the food versus fuel fight “a global myth.”

“It seems so obvious: With so much corn being turned into fuel, food shortages must inevitably result, and biofuel programs must be the cause. However, that’s completely untrue.”

The increased demand for food from the hundreds of millions of people in China and India rising out of poverty and moving to a more calorie-rich diet affects the price of food the most. Second is the price of fuel.

The editorial is written by “Energy Victory” author Robert Zubrin and Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, both members of the Set America Free Coalition which is concerned about the national security and economic implications of America’s growing dependence on foreign oil.

They rightly note that the real culprit in high food prices is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. “This year, with OPEC-rigged oil prices exceeding $100 a barrel, the U.S. will pay $800 billion for its oil supply, and the world as a whole will pay $3.2 trillion. These figures are both up a factor of 10 from what they were in 1999 and represent a huge regressive tax on the world economy.”

So, rather than shut down biofuel programs, we need to radically augment them, to the point where we can take down the oil cartel. Congress can make this happen by passing a law requiring that all new cars sold in the U.S. be flex-fuel vehicles that can run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol or methanol. The technology costs only about $100 per vehicle.

They conclude, “That, and not blindly accepting the naysayers’ propaganda demanding the preservation of the oil monopoly, should be our course.”

Thanks to Mark Lambert with the Illinois Corn Growers for sending us the story.