When You Use Food For Fuel There’s Less Food For People

A World Bank report finds that biofuel pushed food prices up around the globe by nearly 75%:

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government’s claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.

When you look at corn subsidies (around $7 billion a year for fuel, around $5 billion a year for food), which do you think farmers and industries are more likely to flock to?

Less corn for consumption without a decrease in demand leads to, gasp, higher corn prices! Corn is a staple crop for feeding livestock. Increased costs of corn leads to increased cost of meat leads to increased costs at the supermarket or elsewhere.

Ethanol additives has not led to a decrease in the cost of gasoline and its efficiency has been in doubt for decades. But boy did it sound good politically…

EDIT: The Heritage Foundation has a good writeup on farm subsidies available here.