Missouri Governor Matt Blunt says don’t blame ethanol for the rising cost of food for people… or animals for that matter.
In this story in the Springfield (MO) News-Leader, Blunt defended the state’s new 10 percent ethanol mandate… a measure that has come under fire in the state legislature this spring:
At a news conference in Springfield on Thursday, Blunt said soaring grocery bills are more due to higher energy costs for producing it and the “rapidly escalating worldwide demand for food.”
As more people on that planet “try to eat like Americans,” Blunt said, “food’s going to become more expensive.”
Blunt used China as an example of a nation with a hungrier population. The Republican governor said the average Chinese resident is eating 200 more calories per day today than just a few years ago.
“If you do the math, 1.3 billion times 200 calories is a lot of calories.”
Actually, it’s 260 billion more calories per day.
Blunt has promised he won’t sign any measure that repeals Missouri’s four-month-old mandate. Since he’s not running for re-election, it could be an issue that whoever succeeds him will have to tackle. The two main Republican and one main Democrat gubernatorial candidates have also said they are dedicated to renewable energy.
Members of the European Biodiesel Board have asked the European Union to impose punitive tariffs on American biodiesel over complaints that U.S. subsidies on the green fuel are unfair. But their American counterparts at the National Biodiesel Board aren’t taking the threats lightly as they promise to hit back on what the NBB says are unfair trade barriers by the Europeans.
GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy Beth Lowery says the Lucerne, the first flex-fuel capable Buick passenger car, will be among more than 15 GM models with flex-fuel capability in 2009.
“The state of Georgia is quickly becoming a recognized leader in alternative energy and fuel,” said Governor Perdue. “Our goal is to develop a bioenergy industry that provides substantial economic benefit to Georgia and produces 15 percent of the state’s transportation fuels by 2020 from locally produced biofuels.”
NCGA points to a 
The 
White and Cohen were in the position of defending biofuels. Leading in with a story that the Texas governor is calling for waiving half of the Renewable Fuels Standard to help cut food prices, White noted that there have been multiple studies, “including one from the great state of Texas this past month that clearly state that it’s energy prices, in particular petroleum prices, that are driving up food prices – three times as much as anything that commodity prices could do – ethanol just being one of those components of the corn market.”
The 
The aim of the workshops is to promote direct marketing relationships between ethanol producers and fuel retailers and reduce costs for all parties involved. Ethanol plants, petroleum equipment suppliers, petroleum marketers and auto dealers are encouraged to attend these free workshops. Presentations will address E85 handling and storage, regulations and safety procedures, applying for the ethanol blender tax credit, and direct marketing of E85 from ethanol plant to retailer. 
As oil prices rise, so does the price of diesel fuel. Truckers, construction companies and municipalities are feeling the pinch of $4-plus-a-gallon diesel fuel, and one town in Alabama has figured out that a less expensive… and greener… solution is biodiesel.