In article ,
Frank wrote:

On 2/10/2011 4:20 PM, Nad R wrote:
wrote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/opinion/07krugman.html

Droughts, Floods and Food
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: February 6, 2011


We¹re in the midst of a global food crisis ‹ the second in three years.
World food prices hit a record in January, driven by huge increases in
the prices of wheat, corn, sugar and oils. These soaring prices have had
only a modest effect on U.S. inflation, which is still low by historical
standards, but they¹re having a brutal impact on the world¹s poor, who
spend much if not most of their income on basic foodstuffs.

So what¹s behind the price spike? American right-wingers (and the
Chinese) blame easy-money policies at the Federal Reserve, with at least
one commentator declaring that there is ³blood on Bernanke¹s hands.²
Meanwhile, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France blames speculators,
accusing them of ³extortion and pillaging.²

But the evidence tells a different, much more ominous story. While
several factors have contributed to soaring food prices, what really
stands out is the extent to which severe weather events have disrupted
agricultural production. And these severe weather events are exactly the
kind of thing we¹d expect to see as rising concentrations of greenhouse
gases change our climate ‹ which means that the current food price surge
may be just the beginning.

(cont.)

Also add the increased amount of ethanol allowed in fuel for the US market.
Almost all regular gas has ethanol in it and the gas stations do not have
to state or advertise that ethanol is added to regular gas. People would
not not buy the gas otherwise because of performance issues.

So farmers will sell there crops to the ethanol industry over growing food
for the people. And we all know that it takes more oil to make one gallon
ethanol than one gallon of regular gas.

Now I will wait for FarmI's rebuttal and wanting web site verifications

Even Al Gore has said ethanol in fuel was a mistake and government
action is to increase it. Michelle Obama said, "Let them eat coal."

You got a cite for that?

Hope you're not expecting me to defend Obama, if you are, you have a long wait coming.

Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5�illion
bushels produced annually.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw