Why Tim Searchinger and the Washington Post are Wrong About America's Renewable Fuel - Again

"Thankfully we have something they (our opponents) don't have. On our side, we've got the truth." GENERAL WESLEY CLARK (RET.), GROWTH ENERGY CO-CHAIRMAN

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WASHINGTON, DC - February 11, 2011: The Growth Energy blog filed this report:
Once again displaying his willingness to ignore science, peer-reviewed research and the best available data, Tim Searchinger has authored another intellectually-bankrupt attack on farmers and renewable, clean-burning biofuels, this time in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

The notion that ethanol is causing the food crisis blithely ignores market realities, global trade agreements, the domestic farm policies of sovereign nations, and the impact of Wall Street’s rampant speculation.

In fact, ethanol use of the global grain supply is a fraction of what’s available, as you can see from the Growth Energy chart.. Let’s also not forget the September 2009 quote by General Mills’ CFO Don Mulligan, who when questioned by the St. Paul Pioneer-Press whether cheap grain costs contributed to that food manufacturer’s record profits, said the public has inflated opinions of the impact of grain costs on grocery costs, saying grains are only 5 to 10 percent of the food-makers’ expenses.

Searchinger’s op-ed and the Washington Post also ignore the fact that a body no less than the U.S. Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that Searchinger’s ‘indirect land use change’ scheme simply doesn’t exist. That October report found corn ethanol contributed “minimal to zero” impact from ‘indirect land use change.’ You can read that report here

And this 2009 peer-reviewed study by the University of Nebraska found enough questions about ILUC – how it would be measured, whether it exists, why regulations seeking to apply ILUC against biofuels failed to apply ILUC penalties against fossil fuels for the massive military commitment needed to protect access to oil. You can read that report here.

Finally, by blaming biofuels for the food crisis, it is clear that Searchinger and the editors at the Washington Post never read this well-reported story published by Harper’s Magazine, which found unchecked Wall Street speculators caused the last commodities bubble in 2008:

See complete Harper's Magazine article HERE

There is only one commercially-viable alternative to this country’s dependence on foreign oil, and that is domestic ethanol. Every day, foreign oil is getting riskier, costlier and dirtier to extract. On the other hand, with cutting edge technology and innovation, domestic ethanol is getting cleaner, smarter and more abundant.