Grains Gone Wild (Krugman on the world food crisis)

[swag]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/opinion/07krugman.html?ex=1365220800&en=fcfdd79c40ce3f0b&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

. . .

The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a “scam.”

This is especially true of corn ethanol: even on optimistic estimates, producing a gallon of ethanol from corn uses most of the energy the gallon contains. But it turns out that even seemingly “good” biofuel policies, like Brazil’s use of ethanol from sugar cane, accelerate the pace of climate change by promoting deforestation.

And meanwhile, land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis. You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.

One more thing: one reason the food crisis has gotten so severe, so fast, is that major players in the grain market grew complacent.

. . .

[ekwhite]

1. Very scary stuff

'There have already been food riots..." We need to stop the corn based ethanol scam and get back to growing food crops.

[Kolesar]

2. all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.

land used to grow biofuel feedstock is land not available to grow food, so subsidies to biofuels are a major factor in the food crisis. You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.

To be fair, energy policy is complicated policy. I could see how a lower-level candidate could make a mistake on the biofuels issue (like somebody running for state representative). A national candidate should know better.

[sam sarrha]

3. agricultural hemp is the only answer.. grows on marginal land and improves the soil, it can

provide the fiber now produced by deforestation on 20% of that land, it can free us from foreign oil and create a carbon loop to tie up auto emissions, hemp oil needs minimal refining and produces little pollution

[ramapo]

4. Surprise?

The annoying fact that ethanol production produces little net new energy has been basically ignored since the beginning of the biofuel fad. Add to this the loss of food production, couple in the biofuel subsidies, and finally pile on the marketing propaganda that implies that we can continue to drive our cars as much as we want with no negative impact, and you have just what we see, yet another big mess.

[notesdev]

5. Throw in OPEC

turning the screw every chance they get, and you start to wonder why we don't have food exporting nations cartel of our own. Once they find we can substitute for oil easier than they can substitute for food, prices will be a lot more reasonable.

[Igel]

6. That's what happens when advocacy replaces policy formation.

Advocates for a position have no reason to be responsible to anybody or anything but the people or position they advocate for.

Policy makers have to be aware of how their policies will play out.

I've been both. I much preferred being an advocate who was frequently ignored.

[formercia]

7. Food will replace oil as a revenue generator in the future

As the price of oil skyrockets and people begin to find new ways to reduce their energy consumption, the resulting rise in food prices will shift the revenue balance from oil to food.

In the process, hundreds of millions of people in poor countries that neither have energy resources or the ability to grow sufficient food to feed their people and animals will suffer the most.