Wednesday, April 30, 2008

More on the Ridiculous Practice of...

...using food to fuel our engines rather than our bodies. This Washington Post article discusses this troubling trend:
Now, however, the legislation is being criticized for making food more expensive while gasoline prices continue to climb. Rick Perry, a Republican who succeeded Bush as Texas governor, has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to waive half of the "misguided" ethanol requirements because of rising food costs; every penny increase in per-bushel corn prices costs his state's livestock industry $6 million a year, he said.
...
Development specialists have also joined the fray. "While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day," World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said in a recent speech.
The end result? We are exacerbating major food shortages in order to fill our fuel tanks. It's as if we've become sheeps following a sprawl shepherd--entranced to the vagaries of our 40 mile commutes.