New Hampshire Corn Harvest (photo by Paul Anderson, courtesy of morguefile.com)

Diverting corn and other grains from the food supply to the production of biofuels has received some of the blame for rising food prices. Is there an environmental benefit to biofuels that justifies a price increase that hits hardest at those who can least afford it? Two new studies indicate that the answer is no.

According to an article in the Washington Post:

One study -- written by a group of researchers from Princeton University, Woods Hole Research Center and Iowa State University along with an agriculture consultant -- concluded that over 30 years, use of traditional corn-based ethanol would produce twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as regular gasoline. Another analysis, written by a Nature Conservancy scientist along with University of Minnesota researchers, found that converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands in Southeast Asia and Latin America to produce biofuels will increase global warming pollution for decades, if not centuries.

A number of senior scientists who work on climate change have written to President Bush and congressional leaders urging them to change their energy policies in light of the new studies.

If you'd like to read the Washington Post article cited above go to: Studies Say Clearing Land for Biofuels Will Aid Warming