Widening recognition of the ethanol/food price crisis connection will hopefully lead to an end of subsidies and quotas for ethanol. There can be debate about the size of current impact, but there is no question that it is immoral to be in our current position and increase U.S. ethanol production quotas (which is exactly what we've done).
"Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General Jacques Diouf agrees. He says it is incomprehensible that '$11bn-$12bn (£5.6bn-£6.1bn) a year in subsidies and protective tariff policies have the effect of diverting 100 million tonnes of cereals from human consumption, mostly to satisfy a thirst for vehicles.'"
"'We've done some analysis looking at the contribution of biofuels demand on cereals prices indexes. We found that for the price increase from 2006-2007, we attribute about 30% to biofuels,' explains the institute's biofuels expert, Mark Rosegrant."
Now, more than ever, we need to stop the lip service about efficiency and renewable energy and enact a phased-in, federal tax shift from income to non-renewable energy. It's the recognition of the problem and need to act that will lead to Badges of Honor.
