[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 29, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CORN-BASED ETHANOL CAUSES FOOD SHORTAGES

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                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 29, 2008

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, as a growing number of political leaders jump 
on the ethanol bandwagon, people across the world are dying of 
starvation. The increasing shift of America's agricultural industry 
from food production to biofuel production is contributing to mass food 
shortages on a global scale. Riots have broken out in Haiti, Egypt, 
Burkina Faso, and Cameroon as food prices soar to unprecedented levels.
  According to the U.N., ``it takes 232 kg of corn to fill a 50-liter 
car tank with ethanol. That is enough to feed a child for a year''. 
Contrast that against the fact that, ``if every bushel of U.S. corn, 
wheat, rice and soybean were used to produce ethanol, it would only 
cover about 4% of U.S. energy needs on a net basis''.
  Why are we wasting our resources here? Ethanol is not even proven to 
be environmentally friendly. In fact, a recent article from the AP 
stated that, ``The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in 
nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would 
replace because of expected land-use changes''.
  We need to wake up and take a real look at current energy policy and 
actually consider the consequences of simply hopping on every global 
warming fad that comes along. Responsibility and foresight are critical 
to the decisions this Congress makes. This current ethanol policy needs 
to be changed.
  And that's just the way it is.

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