Fueling A Food Crisis
That’s
the message in a report
issued in October by the international anti-hunger organization
ActionAid USA. The report said an RFS waiver is needed to ease pressure on
soaring food prices, which are hitting the poor in under-developed countries
especially hard.
ActionAid sent the report to
the Environmental Protection Agency as part of its comments on a waiver. A
cover letter with the report was cosigned by three domestic environmental
organizations: Friends of the Earth, the Environmental Working Group and the
Clean Air Task Force.
The groups joined numerous
livestock organizations, including NPPC, in supporting a waiver. The RFS
requires a set amount of corn-based ethanol to be blended into gasoline each
year. The summer drought re-ignited the debate over how much corn should be
diverted to fuel cars in light of spiking food and fuel prices.
In its comments,
NPPC said a waiver is “an urgent matter.” “EPA’s granting of a full or partial
waiver … is necessary to avert the severe economic harm that has been
experienced in 2012 by pork producers and the communities and states they live
in …,” NPPC said. EPA is expected to announce a decision in mid-November.
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