Fuelish thinking

Is ethanol affecting the price of bread?

Date published: 4/21/2008

THE CASE for alternative fuel is so compelling that our own president, hardly a progressive environmentalist, has embraced biofuel and ethanol production as a way to wean ourselves off foreign oil. Alternative-fuel skeptics--there are some out there--warn that the produce required to meet federally mandated alternative-fuel requirements will wreak havoc on the world's food supplies. Our grand vegetable-fuel experiment has hardly gotten under way, and the skeptics seem to have evidence on their side.

A recent U.N. report took the bold step of calling biofuels a "crime against humanity." Protests and riots in developing countries have been an impassioned reaction to a pinch that even U.S. citizens are feeling: Food prices--particularly the cost of basic staples such as rice, wheat, and corn--are rising.

As yet, there is no clear link between increasing biofuel and ethanol production and rising food prices. Major alternative-fuel-producing countries such as Brazil and the United States deny a link outright. There are other factors at work here--the rising cost of oil and transportation, most notably.

Economists and scientists will spend the coming months and years trying to determine how fuel and food production are related, and how the government can continue to support alternative fuels with subsidies and tax breaks without affecting the price of a slice of pizza. On present evidence, they can't disengage the two. Upsetting the delicate balance in our food supply seems surprisingly easy to do.

Alternative fuels are not the solution to our dependence on fossil fuels. If things continue the way they are, those new options may not even be a Band-Aid. Worst of all, the time spent trying to change our fuel source is distracting us from real solutions to our energy problems. Biofuel and ethanol are red herrings.

Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best one, and in this case, it's the only one with any real potential: conservation. Unfortunately, conservation isn't a big business with dollars and lobbyists--it's merely common sense. Whether vegetable oil or dinosaur bones fuel our future, we need to start doing more with less. The wave of the future isn't solar panels and cold fusion--it's efficiency.

Higher-mileage vehicles, more efficient lighting and electronics, and smart power management are necessary if we are to cut our reliance on fossil fuels. They are also necessary if we wish to adopt new fuel sources without adversely affecting other markets.

Any competent government should try to do more with less. When it comes to our nation's energy policy, it's imperative our government back measures that do the same.

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Date published: 4/21/2008

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