Senators told ethanol rollback wouldn't lower food prices

By PHILIP BRASHER • Des Moines Register - Washington Bureau • May 7, 2008

Washington, D.C. – Eliminating government support for ethanol won’t put the industry out of business at today’s oil prices, because it would still be economical to turn grain into fuel, lawmakers were told today.

Nor would the cost of food drop dramatically, said Bruce Babcock, director of Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.

“If you got rid of all the incentives it would not have very much impact on the total quantity of ethanol that we’re producing now,” Babcock told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

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