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May 6 - REP. JOHN SHIMKUS TURNED CORN WARRIOR: If you smelled something
downwind today it may have been the smoke resulting from repeated attempts by corn-ethanol detractors to set corn and ethanol on fire in Washington, DC. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a Subcommittee
on Energy and Air Quality hearing that started to sound like the Salem witch hunt, blaming ethanol for numerous ills.
The good news is that the smoke never turned into an all out blaze thanks to the
professional and often passionate efforts of Illinois Congressman John Shimkus, a long time ethanol supporter. The stage was set for the RFS hearing in the RayburnBuilding to turn into a regular barbeque with the
likes of the Natural Resource Defense Council, the National Petro-Chemical Refiners Association, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association all lining up against the RFS and ethanol.
On the other side stood National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman, Bob
Dineen of the Renewable Fuels Association and the ethanol maker POET. Although all did a great job presenting the facts, it was Rep. Shimkus who threw himself into the breach and repeatedly used his hard-earned
ethanol-corn education to address misinformation and redirect the conversation onto a more factual footing.
In his testimony to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, Tolman took
to task naysayers who blame corn and ethanol for rising food prices and world hunger.
“A look at the facts surrounding food prices simply doesn’t support that
logic,” Tolman said. “More so, the effects of $120 barrel oil have far reaching effects on the consumer price for food. A recent study by the Oregon Department of Agriculture details the factors affecting food
price: a growing middle class in Latin America and Asia, drought in Australia, low worldwide wheat stocks, increases in labor costs, a declining U.S. dollar, regional pests, diseases, droughts and frosts, and
marginal impacts from ethanol demand for corn and sugarcane.”
Tolman also directed the members to a White House fact sheet on hunger issued May
1, which states: “Increased production of corn-based biofuels is estimated to account for only three percent of the 43 percent increase in global food prices.”
In his conclusion, Tolman said the RFS is crucial to our nation’s energy
security.
“NCGA sees the Renewable Fuels Standard as a critical part of domestic energy
security,” he said. “Its inclusion has strengthened our energy policy and further diversified our nation’s fuel supply in a time of global volatility and increasing demand for energy. Corn growers will
continue to meet the growing demands of food, feed and fuel in an economical and environmentally responsible manner.”
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