US ethanol policy under siege

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) May 21, 2008
Amid a surge in food prices blamed in part on US expansion of corn-based ethanol production, lawmakers, experts and industry officials are urging the government to rethink a new law mandating alternative fuels.

The United States is the world's top producer of corn-based ethanol, which the administration of President George W. Bush sees as a way of reducing dependence on foreign oil and curb fossil-fuel emissions, the main source of man-made global warming.

Politicians are under mounting pressure to look again at the effects of a landmark energy law enacted in December that raised vehicle fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in three decades and offered broad support for ethanol production.

WTO says cannot solve food price crisis

By Jonathan Lynn

Posted 12:05 pm EDT

GENEVA, May 7, 2008 (Reuters) — The World Trade Organization cannot conjure up a short-term solution to soaring food prices but a successful end to global trade talks would help in the longer term, the organization's chief said on Wednesday.

Staple food prices have risen more than 40 percent in the last year causing shortages, hoarding and riots in many developing countries and prompting the United Nations to warn of malnutrition and social unrest.

Many countries have responded to the high prices by imposing taxes and other restrictions on exports -- allowed under WTO rules -- to try to ensure adequate supplies at home.

Bangladesh said on Wednesday it had banned exports of non-aromatic rice for six months to secure domestic supplies.

Export bans by India and Vietnam, in addition to dwindling world stocks, have helped rice prices in Asia to treble this year, ringing alarm bells for policy makers struggling to rein in inflation.