Fighting the Good Fight
by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) …Though it sometimes can be easy to lose sight, the increasing challenges we face are directly correlated to our achievements. In particular, with higher blends of ethanol in gasoline gaining greater acceptance, we are hitting OPEC and foreign oil where it hurts most—their pocketbooks.
…As a result, their attacks are more frequent and even more misleading. It is important to keep this in perspective as we persevere with corn ethanol and next-generation biofuels. Oil companies are threatened by our success—if we don’t need foreign oil, it’s a game changer.
…(F)ree market forces are taking effect. Ethanol production has decreased, with some plants even temporarily ceasing production due to market forces.
…As rumors shifted into high gear this summer, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack went on CNN to dispel them, saying, “What really drives food prices more significantly are energy costs.” Vilsack then went on to criticize the price-gougers who are manipulating the drought as a means to raise prices at grocery stores nationwide. Additionally, at the height of the drought, the United Nations along with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development released an agricultural report on the correlation between oil and commodity prices, stating, “Global agriculture is increasingly linked to energy markets… These higher oil prices are a fundamental factor behind the higher agricultural commodity price projections…”
…Increased food prices are directly attributed to higher oil prices—it costs more to harvest, transport, process, refrigerate and package the goods that show up at your grocery store. And this summer, the driving force for the increase in commodity prices and futures was an act of Mother Nature—a lack of rain. READ MORE and MORE (Yahoo!News) and MORE (Financial Times/CNN) and MORE (25 x ’25)
