Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Critics who have blamed corn-based fuels for rising food prices: a sham cooked up by the food industry”

Valero chairman Bill Klesse, from an interview on WOIA, reported by E85fuel.com: “The falling price of gasoline demonstrates the massive size of taxpayer-funded subsidies that would be needed for alternative fuels such as ethanol to be competitive with gasoline. The tax incentive for ethanol is huge, consumers are paying for it, and it offers no environmental benefit.”

From US News: “Four of the nation’s largest ethanol producers publicly launched a new organization, Growth Energy, to offer a “fresh, aggressive new voice in the energy debate.” The announcement clearly represents the latest, most visible attempt by ethanol backers to discount critics who have blamed corn-based fuels for rising food prices—”a sham cooked up by the food industry,” according to one member. But one week after the election, it also is just one of several efforts—public and private—the ethanol industry is undertaking as it works to position itself favorably with a new Congress and a new president.”

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