August 16, 2010
Response to Salt Lake Tribune Opinion
Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis responds to an opinion in the Salt Lake Tribune:
In his August 14th Opinion in the Salt Lake Tribune, Moroni Feed Co. & Norbest CEO Kent Barton conveniently fails to consider the latest crop forecasts and economic studies that prove, once and for all, that biofuels were not to blame for the so-called food crisis of 2007 to 2008.
Last week’s USDA crop forecasts indicate that corn farmers are on track for yet another record corn crop and yield per acre for this year – a crop estimated to surpass the records set in 2009—proving that our farmers can produce more than enough grain to satisfy all the demand for food, fuel and feed in this country. Further, despite record ethanol production and steady export levels, 2009 end-of-year corn stocks totaled 1.6 billion bushels – confirming once again, that the U.S. has more than enough corn to feed our people, produce our energy, and still have ample stock leftover for storage.
At the same time, a 2010 World Bank study, released in July, found that biofuels played a minimal role in the food price increases of 2007 and 2008, and that energy prices and speculation were the real culprits behind the price increases.
The author also fails to acknowledge that ethanol production leaves all the protein, oil and fiber to be used in a highly-nutritious livestock feed. Ethanol only uses the starch from the corn kernel so we’re getting both feed and fuel from the same bushel of corn – a fact that dispels any notion that ethanol increases feed costs.
Barton maintains that the blender’s tax credit, which currently goes to petroleum blenders – not ethanol producers - as an incentive to blend ethanol, should be eliminated. However, as Growth Energy has repeatedly pointed out, the only reason the ethanol industry needs government support today is because we are arbitrarily denied access to all but ten percent of the fuel market
Growth Energy’s Fueling Freedom Plan – which calls for the build out of blender pumps and flex fuel vehicles—will eliminate artificial market barriers to open the market and force all fuels to compete for the consumer’s dollar. If the ethanol industry gets access to a bigger share of the market, the government supports aren’t as important.
Redirecting current U.S. government supports to the build out of blender pumps and flex fuel vehicles will enable consumers to choose an alternative fuel at the pump—an alternative that has been proven to clean our skies, strengthen our shores, revitalize our economy and create jobs—all without any impact on food prices.
