Why do people stay silent about Big Ag? 75% of food price rise attributed to biofuel

Can any tell me? Obama supporters? Ethanol lovers? Farmers?

Big oil gets murdered by the politicians and the public but Big Ag gets a free pass as if they have done nothing to contribute to the problems in America and the world today. Nah it couldn't have been the Big Ag lobby that created one of the single most destructive policies that we have in America today with the support of corn ethanol. It was probably Big Oil's fault too. Maybe we can get some of the anti-oil speculator people in this thread to just tell me it is corn speculators driving the price up.

This was the most recent article I saw but feel free to post other articles in here.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-g8-food-britain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

British Report Calls For New Look At Biofuels


Published: July 6, 2008

Filed at 7:13 p.m. ET

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - A British government report on food policy to be published on Monday says the link between demand for biofuels and rising world food prices needs to be more closely examined.

The European Union's proposal to get 10 percent of road transport fuels from renewable sources, such as biofuels, by 2020 has faced growing criticism.

Biofuels are mainly produced from food crops such as wheat, maize, sugar cane and vegetable oils and are seen as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

But critics say diverting land from food crops to produce biofuels has helped push up global food prices and in some cases has led to the destruction of rain forests.

Alongside the government's food report, Britain will also publish a document on Monday known as the Gallagher review which examines the environmental case for biofuels and the impact of 2020 targets on food prices, according to a government briefing.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in April that Britain would push for changes in EU targets if the review showed more biofuel production was boosting food prices and harming the environment.

European Union energy chiefs also backed away from the controversial 2020 targets when they met in Paris on Saturday, saying there were other renewable sources besides biofuels which could power road transport.

The rush to grow crops for energy rather than food has pushed global food prices up by 75 percent, according to a confidential World Bank report published in Britain's The Guardian newspaper last week.

BROWN'S G8 FOOD PUSH

"There is so much evidence about the negative impacts of biofuels that setting mandatory targets seems unconscionable," said Phil Bloomer from campaign group Oxfam.

"And yet that's what the UK has done, thereby sending a signal to the markets and the private sector that demand is here to stay, and keeping prices high. The EU must not follow suit."

At the moment, Britain requires suppliers of motor fuels to ensure 5 percent comes from renewable sources by 2010.

Brown has been calling for global action to curb soaring food prices for several months and outlined his ideas in a letter in April to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who hosts this week's G8 summit.

As part of his plan, Brown wants the G8 to set new benchmarks for sustainable levels of biofuel production, according to the briefing.

He is also calling for a new expert food panel -- modeled on the panel of climate change scientists which shared the 2007 Nobel peace prize -- to track global food supplies and sound the alarm early when crises loom.

Britain's food report says boosting agriculture in the developing world to its potential would help meet mushrooming demand and decrease the risk of social instability. Stopping food waste during storage and transport would also help.

Brown wants rich nations to stop a fall in aid and investment in agriculture in the developing world, double spending on research, train scientists and experts in poor nations and invest in irrigation and transport.

 

Well I don't believe oil is all structural growth. I don't think I have ever said that. I have always stated that a nice chunk, 30+%, is the dollar weakness. I have also said that I don't know how much Iran uncertainty is already priced into oil. I will just guess that it is anywhere from $10 to $20. That's about half of the price of oil as it stands now. Further, I have no clue how much oil would spike if Israel attacked Iran. Also, I do feel oil would be settling down if it wasn't for the Iran situation and the Fed's complete unwillingness to fight inflation while the ECB does.

Which one do you believe is connected with real demand? I believe oil is connected with real demand but is also significantly effected by the price of the dollar and by the potential war in the middle east. I believe anything related to the corn ethanol subsidy is an artificial bubble created in large part by the US sponsoring corn ethanol. Do you have anything disproving that the corn ethanol subsidies have not significantly (50+%) effected food prices and caused shortages?

Also, feel free to link to me to any economic papers that state oil is only a bubble. ...Or feel free to answer why Big Ag gets a free pass or why you feel they have had no involvement in the rise of food prices.

 

http://www.bipac.net/gma/Ethanol_Analysis_ELAM_FINAL 9_19_07.pdf

this isn't a bad one...page 14 is where the numbers are broken down

type in economic effects of corn ethanol subsidy

http://www.google.com/search?q=economic+effects+of+corn+ethanol+subsidy

 

it's much larger than i have seen as well. and i won't listen to anything the bush admin has to say. they still have the puppet paulson saying the admin is for a strong dollar

 

obama is sponsored by big ag. he wants the tariff and he wants to continue corn ethanol. mccain is against the tariff.

 

yeah if they can actually put together a solid quarter of earnings i might buy more. i did read in their prospectus that they are actually hurt by a weak dollar so if america ever gets it's act together and starts working towards a strong dollar then CZZ could really be setup for success.