Van Jones, a green economy activist and founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, describes how US corn ethanol subsidies have created a dangerous perversion of the food prices.

The great ethanol swindle:
Ethanol is supposed to saves the environment by offering a renewable source of energy (corn and sugar), but the truth about ethanol’s impact is far more complex.

Corn ethanol is inefficient
Jones explains that due to the fertilizer inputs for growing corn, the energy consuming conversion to ethanol and low output of usable fuel from corn, corn-based ethanol is not an efficient means of producing fuel. Corn-based ethanol’s return is roughly on a one-to-one basis, meaning that you are only getting out the same amount of energy you are putting in. By contrast, sugar-based ethanol produces something like ten times as much energy as it takes to create. The US is not, however, a good zone for growing sugar cane.

Linking food and fuel hurts the poor
By offering American farmers another market for selling corn besides food, ethanol subsidies more tightly link food to the price of oil and other fuels. The result is that rising fuel prices create a direct demand for corn, thus increasing the price of a basic food material. Jones cited Mexico’s food riots last January as a precursor to what we will see in the future. Angered at the rising price of tortillas, tens of thousands of Mexican’s took to the streets in protest. To draw an extreme image from Jones’ thinking: The poor will starve while the rich drive cars fueled by food.

Sugar ethanol also has risks
While sugar ethanol offers a far greater energy output than corn-based ethanol, there are environmental risks: A rise in the price of sugar cane could inspire Brazilian farmers to cut down more rain forest to grow sugar cane.

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