Bio Fuels Boost Food Prices 75 Percent, Not 3 Percent Claimed by Bush

Food prices are up, and we can blame bio fuel mandates.

I had a sneaking suspicion about bio fuels when a number of Wisconsin Republican politicians started to work for and represent the bio crop industry. The legislature even wanted to require a certain percentage of bio fuel in every gallon of gasoline. That for me was the tipping point. A state law requiring anything, without the ability to adjust percentages later seemed incredibly irresponsible, and had the conservative MO written all over it.

In fact, this goes all the way to the Bush White House, where they had suggested biofuels accounted for only a three per cent increase in food prices.

According to an unpublished World Bank report obtained by the Guardian the production of biofuels has driven up food prices 75 per cent.

Here’s the politically driven kicker: The newspaper suggests the report has not been released so as not to embarrass President Bush.

This information has been kept from all of us to protect the Bush adiministration, so they wouldn’t be embarrassed, at a time when the public would have to make important decisions about legislative policy effecting what we pay at the pump and grocery store checkouts.

We are so screwed.

And don’t try to shift the blame to other countries, because of increased demand for food or fuel. The first giveaway was the speed at which the prices changed. If demand were at fault, increases would have been dramatically slower. According to the World Bank report, “Changing diets in developing countries and a drought in Australia were not significant factors in driving up the price of food — which increased 140 per cent between 2002 and February 2008. Instead, a large-scale push in the U.S. and the European Union (UN) to convert food crops to biofuel has tightened supplies and raised financial speculation.”

My own solution to the energy problem has always been similar to this comment from Pluggedvalve:

Big surprise. Use food as fuel and dont replace the food. That means there is less food available. Supply + demand = higher cost... Who didn't see this the first time it was suggested? Why not make hybrids mandatory by 2020 instead of 5% ethanol in all gas??
It would have zero impact on food and it would help with climate change. I dont see why this is such a difficult concept for the government.

Through heavy lobbying, the Republicans have always allowed the Big Three auto makers to hold back on higher CAFÉ standards, even though consumers would have benefited in the long run. The excuse had always been that the added costs per vehicle would hurt sales and the U.S. economy.

Well, look at us now. This was one of the predictable outcomes bandied about for years.