WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans on Monday asked environmental
regulators to use their power to halt the country's ethanol output expansion
plans amid rising food prices.
Twenty-four Republican senators, including presidential candidate Sen. John
McCain of Arizona, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency
suggesting it waive, or restructure, rules that require a five-fold increase in
ethanol production over the next 15 years.
Congress passed a law last year mandating a ramp-up to 15 billion gallons of
corn ethanol by 2015 and 36 billion by 2022. But McCain and other Republicans
said those rules should be waived to put more corn back into the food supply for
livestock, and to encourage farmers to plant other crops.
"This subsidized (ethanol) program -- paid for by taxpayer dollars -- has
contributed to pain at the cash register, at the dining room table, and a
devastating food crisis throughout the world," said McCain, in a statement.
Despite tough rhetoric from lawmakers, analysts say Congress is unlikely to
roll back such a popular program during an election year.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Kevin Book argued in a recent note
to clients that Congress will not "turn on the corn belt" because of the
significant number of votes held by ethanol-producing states. Ethanol subsidies
could face greater risks, however, in 2009 and going forward, according to Book.
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said Monday "ethanol is unfairly
taking the brunt of the criticism" for escalating food prices. Grassley's home
state is expected to produce a quarter of all U.S. ethanol this year.
Farmers have responded to federal ethanol incentives by planting the largest
crop of corn in 60 years, leaving fewer acres for soybeans, oats and other
agricultural staples.
Tighter crop supplies means higher production costs for food processors of
all types. In one recent example Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest
chicken producer, said costs rose $200 million in the quarter on higher corn and
soybean feed.
And Americans are paying those higher costs at the grocery store, where egg
prices have jumped 40 percent in the last year and flour prices have risen 50
percent since January, raising the price of bread and other baked goods.
The EPA has the power to waive or restructure the requirements if they cause
unintended harm to consumers or the environment.
"We don't think it's the right move to make," said Liz Friedlander, a
spokeswoman for the National Farmers Union.
The group has defended corn-based production of the alternative fuel, saying
its impact on the rising food prices has been relatively small. Instead, it says
food price inflation is mainly due to higher fuel prices, poor weather
conditions and dwindling stockpiles of wheat and other crops.
The ethanol industry said Monday altering the biofuels mandate "would drive
the price of oil and gasoline through the roof," according to Matt Hartwig, a
spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association.
Ethanol is "one of the only solutions for holding down the price of oil in
the long-term," according to Jeff Broin, president and chief executive of Sioux
Falls, S.D.-based Poet, the nation's largest ethanol producer.
While nearly all experts agree increased biofuel production by companies
such as Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Pacific Ethanol Inc. has contributed to
the run-up in food prices, there is little consensus on the scope of its role.
The ethanol industry says ethanol and other biofuels account for just 4
percent of the price surge, while the Department of Agriculture says the figure
is closer to 20 percent.
Last week a group of international scientists recommended halting use of
crops for biofuel, saying it would cut corn prices 20 percent.
Shares of VeraSun Energy Corp. fell 41 cents, or 5.9 percent, Monday to
$6.50 in morning trading. Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co. rose 34 cents to
$44.32. Pacific Ethanol shares rose 7 cents, or 2 percent, to $3.55.
AP Business Writer Dan Caterinicchia contributed to this report.
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