From the Miami Herald on Friday, April 18, 2008:

Given the current global food crisis, decisions by the United States, Europe and other countries to convert corn and other food crops into fuel are beginning to look like good intentions gone awry. The biofuels push is beginning to have harmful unintended consequences, contributing to shortages of basic foods in Haiti, Egypt, Italy and countries in Africa and Southeastern Asia. The European Union is reconsidering its goal of using biofuels in 10 percent of its transportation fuels -- and the U.S. Congress should do the same.

Many factors have contributed to food shortages, including the recent drought, record-high prices for oil, high demand for meat in developing countries and, of course, the push of biofuels in the United States and Europe. Biofuels aren't the primary cause, but they are a significant factor. They are estimated to account for 25 percent to 30 percent of the price increase in world food prices, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, an agricultural consulting group in Washington.

Giving farmers subsidies and other incentives for corn and other crops to make fuel seemed like a good idea.

Nevertheless, there are serious drawbacks to biofuels, especially corn. A recent report in The New York Times said that a fifth of America's corn crop is used to make ethanol. The energy bill added even more subsidies and incentives for corn production and, as a result, more U.S. farms have switched to corn production instead of other crops, like soybeans, for example.

This caused prices to rise for soybeans, which, in turn, contributed to the worldwide shortage of vegetable oil. Other farmers complained about the high cost of feed for their livestock; and grocers were hit with sharp price increases. The ripple effect is global.

Congress can't do much about bad weather, the cost of oil or the rising demand for meat. But it can reverse its mandate to use food crops for fuel.