"Changing US energy policy", he said, "will not provide short-term relief on the food supply and decrease food prices as many expect. In fact, relaxing the renewable fuels standard mandate actually may escalate food prices now and in the future by driving fuel prices even higher.

"Across the country, including 10 percent ethanol in gasoline has held the price per gallon down by $.15 to $.45 depending on the region of the country, as highlighted in recent studies in Missouri. Reducing ethanol requirements by 50 percent removes 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol from the fuel supply. This will reduce the total fuel supply, causing transportation, fertilizer, fuel, packaging and other food production costs to continue to increase, further inflating the price of food.

Nuernberg was clear as to what he thought bore most of the responsibility for the current problems, namely the oil price which, he pointed out, had increased from $35 in 2005 to more than $110 today -- nearly 300 percent.

Globally, today's energy prices are a disincentive to food production", said Nuernberg, "as third world countries simply can't afford to develop agriculture systems and, therefore, their ability to feed themselves.

"Corn-based ethanol, while not a silver bullet, is the foundation upon which the next generation of 'advanced biofuels' is being built."

Nuernberg concluded; "The industry is fueling research into cellulosic ethanol produced from feedstocks such as switch grass and other non-edible renewable biomass. Corn-based ethanol is a solution that is here now, available in our current infrastructure and making a difference in the price of fuel."