Food or Fuel? Choose One
The President of the World Bank [via NPR] says demand for ethanol and other biofuels is a “significant contributor” to soaring food prices around the world. Robert Zoellick says droughts, financial speculators and increased demand for food have created “a perfect storm” of climbing food prices. In the U.S., the price of corn has more than doubled due, in part, to the demand for alt fuels such as ethanol. The World Bank figures food prices will stay high, or go higher, over the next couple of years. “Biofuels is no doubt a significant contributor,” says Zoellick. “It is clearly the case that programs in Europe and the U.S. that have increased biofuel production have contributed to the added demand for food.” As we reported last week, some 20 percent of last year’s U.S. corn crop went to ethanol production; it’s likely to reach 30 percent next year. Boondoggles can be lethal.