Former Secretary of Agriculture John Block can look at the food versus fuel issue from a number of angles. He ran the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Reagen from 1981-1986. He was executive vice president of the Food Marketing Institute, which represents food retailers and wholesalers. He serves on the board of Friends of the World Food Program, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to building support for the World Food Program and other hunger relief efforts. And he is an Illinois family farmer who produces both corn and hogs.
On Wednesday, Block shared his perspective on food prices and ethanol with the media at the National Press Club.
“The first point I would make is, yes, biofuels have had some impact on the price of food, we can’t deny that,” Block said. “But it’s pretty small, it’s hard to figure out exactly what it is.”
That’s because this is a very complicated issue, Block says, which includes factors such as increased demand for animal protein in developing countries, crops affected by weather, speculation in the futures markets, weakness of the dollar, and oil. “I dare say we would not even be standing up here right now if oil was $20 a barrel, but it’s not, it’s $120 and its likely to stay in that range and it puts us in a position we had not been in before,” he said.
With so many factors involved, Block says it’s unreasonable to give biofuels a majority of the blame for higher food prices, especially internationally. “Because we are not shorting the market on grain,” he said. “We are exporting more grain than we ever have in history.”
The positive side to this Block says is that higher prices equals investment and that equals more food. “Over time, with good prices for farm products, the world is going to produce more food products.”
“I believe that biofuels have an important place,” Block concluded. “All of this is home-grown, it makes jobs for us in the United States and its a clean fuel – those are good, positive things.”
Listen to Block’s comments here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/rfa-press-block.mp3]
The edition of “Fill up, Feel Good” features comments from EPIC Director of Operations Robert White and SDCUC Executive Director Lisa Richardson about the new program, its goals, how it will work, and how it will benefit consumers.
That’s the question National Corn Growers CEO Rick Tolman presented to the media during a press conference in Washington DC on Wednesday, pointing to the 
The bill, which addresses Gov. Charlie Crist’s call for policies that combat global warming, is made up of 112 sections that could dramatically increase the state’s investment in renewable energy. The House passed the energy bill unanimously Tuesday and the Senate passed the House bill by a vote of 39 to1 Wednesday.
The development is focused on Mascoma’s single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass into low-carbon alternative fuels to help address increasing energy demand. It ties in with another partnership 
According to EPIC Director of Operations Robert White, “The blender pump program will provide incentives and support to gas station retailers who want the opportunity to offer blender pumps, raise awareness to consumers, and offer flex-fuel vehicle motorists more opportunities at the pump.” 
One of the main goals is to increase the state’s blender pump infrastructure by installing a minimum of 100 new blender pumps over the next year. There are currently nearly 20 blender pumps in the state. All blender pumps will be branded with the stylized “e” logo and the necessary precautionary pump labels. 
“Today, we celebrate the official start of the largest wind energy project to date in Nebraska,” Gov. [Dave] Heineman said at the groundbreaking. “I want to offer my thanks and appreciation to everyone involved with this project, which will more than double Nebraska’s wind power capacity.
Working with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is granting $1.2 million to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo. for a three-year project to enhance oil production from soybeans.
“This grant is yet another of the Danforth Center’s unique partnerships for supporting basic plant science research. In this case, the partnership will address the pressing needs for more efficient methods to produce fuels from renewable plant sources,” said Danforth Center President Dr. Roger N. Beachy. “We greatly appreciate the support of Senator Kit Bond and his staff in facilitating the relationship between the Danforth Center and the National Biodiesel Board in an effort to increase the oil feedstock for biodiesel production.”
“We are proud to support the Danforth Center as researchers there look for ways to get more bang for the buck from each soybean seed,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe. “Increasing the oil feedstock supply is vital to the rapidly expanding biodiesel industry. Soybean oil is one of the primary feedstock sources used in the production of biodiesel, and we hope this research will increase the soy oil supply. Plus, whatever advances are made on beans will have a high likelihood of being transferred to other oilseed crops – other biodiesel sources.”