Domestic Fuel

It’s not so much a question of there being a shortage of food, but instead a question of how converting food to liquid motor fuels will increase the price of food. Here are the words of Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Instititute and author of “Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.”:

“Since almost everything we eat can be converted into fuel for automobiles, including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, and sugarcane, the line between the food and energy economies is disappearing. Historically, food processors and livestock producers that converted these farm commodities into products for supermarket shelves were the only buyers. Now there is another group, those buying for the ethanol distilleries and biodiesel refineries that supply service stations.

As the price of oil climbs, it becomes increasingly profitable to convert farm commodities into automotive fuel, either ethanol or biodiesel. In effect, the price of oil becomes the support price for food commodities.

Whenever the food value of a commodity drops below its fuel value, the market will convert it into fuel.”

There is no shortage of food now and probably won’t be in the future. But there will be poor people starving because they won’t be able to afford food as the price climbs.

Food v. fuel creates an ethical dilemma: Should we convert corn to ethanol to keep our SUVs rolling while poor people go hungry?

Please, give me a break. If food were free, there would still be people starving. People are starving now, they were starving yesterday and they will still be starving tomorrow – with or without food crops being made into fuel.

To some extent there will always be a core level of people who are starving. The issue though is where should we draw the line? Do we try to hold that number to a basic minimum, or do we let it creep up?

As the ethanol industry grows and needs more corn, that will drive the price up, and the number of people who lack the ability to buy all the food they require will increase. That’s a basic law of economics — more people competing for the same resources means the price has to increase.

You say it’s ridiculous, but our society will have to make a difficult ethical decision: Should we convert corn to fuel to keep SUVs rolling, in exchange for increasing the number of people who will have trouble buying more expensive food?

Societies have to make those kind of decisions all of the time. We may well decide fuel is more important to our economy and the lifestyle of the well-to-do, but don’t deny the issue exists.