Earth Equity News

Agro-Industrial Elite Bankrolls New Biofuels Lobby Group. Mongabay.com, July 25, 2008. "Under attack by politicians, aid groups, and environmentalists for driving up food prices and fueling destruction of ecologically sensitive habitats, some of the world's largest agro-industrial firms have formed a lobby group to influence consumers and lawmakers to support continued subsidies for biofuel production in the U.S.... The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy was created by Archer Daniels Midland, DuPont, Deere, Monsanto and the Renewable Fuels Association. Its initial budget is 'in the multimillions,' [said] the group's executive director Mark Kornblau... The alliance says that the current run up in food prices is linked to high energy prices, not production of biofuels from feedstocks such as corn and soy. The U.S. Agriculture Department estimates that one-third of the U.S. corn crop this year will be used to make ethanol. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says that biofuel production has consumed roughly 100 million tons of grains. Food prices have doubled in the past three years according to the World Bank. The International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that biofuels account for more than 30% of the increase."