María Elvira Salazar: “Ethanol is being blamed for the high cost of food prices. But what the news media forgets to tell you is that we've had…”

“Ethanol is being blamed for the high cost of food prices. But what the news media forgets to tell you is that we've had the shortest wheat crop on record worldwide for many, many years. They also forget to tell you that because this country continues to borrow money from China, the value of the dollar continues to go down, and so developing countries, like China and India, can now afford American food products. So it creates a larger demand. The Congressional Research Service issued a report that shows that between 40 and 50 percent of the price of food at the grocery store is dependent, directly dependent on the cost of transportation. I agree with you on that. You also talked about the issue of holding the $1 tax credit, which the Senate has approved. It is my understanding that the Conference Committee has agreed upon that. As a matter of fact, what has been created is $1.01 per gallon cellulosic ethanol tax credit through 2010. The $1.01 per gallon is based on the 56-cents-per-gallon producer's credit, and then the 45-cents-per-gallon blender's credit. This should incentivise people to start or companies to start producing ethanol from cellulosic material. I believe that the Nation is capable of producing a sustainable supply of about 1.3 billion tons of biomass per year.”