Energy plan’s surprising impact

Groups criticize Senate proposal to boost biofuel usage

Dick Morse, a feed dealer in southeast Iowa, has something in common with the Coca-Cola Co. Both are concerned about a push in Congress to increase the production of fuel ethanol and what that’s doing to their business.

Lawmakers “are so giddy about getting away from foreign oil that I’m not sure they’re looking at the whole picture,” says Morse, who worries that ethanol-fueled increases in corn prices may force many of his customers to quit raising hogs.



Coca-Cola, which relies on corn syrup to sweeten its soft drinks, has joined chief competitor PepsiCo Inc., food companies like Kellogg Co., and groups representing meatpackers and livestock producers in raising alarms about a Senate energy bill that would require the usage of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Current law requires motorists to use 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels by 2012, a target that will be surpassed in coming months as dozens of new ethanol plants come on line.

The soda companies, food makers and livestock groups warn that the Senate mandate could increase “soil erosion, water pollution and habitat destruction,” according to a recent letter to Senate leaders. The groups say consumers already are paying more for food because of biofuel production.

Des Moines Register