***Food and Fuel Quiz, 5-11-08***

Food and Fuel in The News

Weekly Trivia Quiz, May 11, 2008

How good are you at Food and Fuel trivia for the week? Try our new weekly trivia quiz. Answers and scoring below the questions. Post your scores in the comments. Good luck!

1. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) opposes new food safety funding efforts because a) imported foods shouldn't be singled out b) who needs more taxes? c) it would be costly to food companies?

2. Representative Dingell praised the drug industry for working with Congress on the safety issue. Which industry did he mention was a "marked contrast"?

3. According to BusinessWeek, Is Ethanol Getting a Bum Rap?, what percentage of the record corn crop was used to make ethanol?

4. The average price of gasoline this week is HIGHER or LOWER than $3.60 a gallon?

5. The average price of diesel is $4.15 a gallon. How much more a gallon is this from last year at this time?

6. Robert Zubrin and Gal Luft wrote in the Chicago Tribune that US farmers grow record crops to feed the world. Which two countries did he mention are now needing more food as they move out of poverty as a primary cause of price increases?

7. In that same article, what was the second factor?

8. On their new website, farmingforyou.org, the Illinois Farm Bureau list five factors affecting food prices. Name them.

9. Senators introduced new energy legislation this week, Consumers First Energy Act,. According to Senate Majority Leader Reid, he wants to a) have a party with Big Oil to celebrate their new wealth b) invite them to dinner c) "hold them accountable for unconscionable price-gouging and force them to invest in renewable energy or pay a price for refusing to do so."

10. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is increasing postage due to escalating fuel costs. How much does a one-cent increase in fuel price cost the Post Office per year in increased expenses?

BONUS QUESTION: (also worth 10 points)

B1. Last summer which famous motorcycle company built an E85 Chopper?

SCORE

Earn 10 points for each correct answer.

100 points : Food and Fuel Champ
80-90 points : Great! Keep it up.
60-70 points : Good, but you can do better.
10 - 50 points : Need to visit the site more often
0 points : Are you working for Big Oil?

ANSWERS

1. c) It would be costly to food companies
2. food manufacturers
3. 22%
4. Higher ($3.613)
5. $1.35 a gallon more than last year
6. China and India
7. Price of Fuel
8. Energy, Inflation, Demand, Weather, and Labor
9. c) "hold them accountable for unconscionable price-gouging and force them to invest in renewable energy or pay a price for refusing to do so."
10. A one-cent increase in fuel costs USPS more than $8 million in higher fuel costs per year.

BONUS
B1. Orange County Chopper

READ MORE

• Previous Quizes
• Biofuel Myths vs Facts
• Big Oil's War on Ethanol
  
• Find Alternative Fuel Locations
  

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Higher Fuel Costs Go Postal

The higher price of gas will affect more than just the cost of food and consumer goods. Now higher fuel costs are going postal.

On Monday, May 12, 2008, the US Postal Service (USPS) will raise postage prices.

The cost to mail a U.S. First Class one-ounce letter will increase to 42 cents while the postcard will increase to 27 cents.

This postage increase covers higher operating expenses due to rapidly escalating fuel prices, as well as rising medical, transportation and other higher expenses. A one-cent increase in fuel costs USPS more than $8 million in higher fuel costs per year. USPS receives no tax dollars for its operations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to cover its costs.

For detailed information on the new U.S. and international postage rates and a listing of prices, visit www.usps.com/prices.

Source: US Postal Service

READ MORE

• Gas Rebate Checks Coming Soon
  
• IRS Reacts to Higher Gasoline Prices
• Food Price Problem: Outrageous Oil
• Gasoline Prices Rise and So Does Everything Else
• $ign of the Times
  

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Senators Put Consumers First

This week Senate Democrats introduced the Consumers-First Energy Act of 2008, a bill that addresses the root causes of high gas prices to strengthen the nation's economic, energy and national security.

The new energy package would revoke $17 billion in tax breaks extended to big oil companies like ExxonMobil and levy a 25 percent windfall profits tax on firms that refuse to invest in new energy sources.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Jeff Bingaman, Max Baucus, Charles Schumer, Byron Dorgan, Maria Cantwell and Bernie Sanders unveiled the proposed legislation that addresses the root causes of high gas prices.

According to Reid: "Instead of helping Big Oil make more money at the expense of average Americans, we are forcing oil companies to change their ways. We will hold them accountable for unconscionable price-gouging and force them to invest in renewable energy or pay a price for refusing to do so.”

Key provisions of the new bill include:

• Roll Back Tax Breaks for Oil Companies and Invest in Renewable Energy – In 2004 and 2005, the Big Oil companies received tax breaks worth $17 billion over 10 years. The Consumer-First Energy Act will roll back $17 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas companies and instead invest those taxpayer dollars to improve consumer price protection, renewable energy development and energy efficiency technology through a designated Energy Independence and Security Trust Fund.

• Force Big Oil to Pay Their Fair Share through a Windfall Profits Tax – The proceeds of the tax will be invested in consumer price protection, renewable energy development and energy efficiency technologies through a designated Energy Independence and Security Trust Fund.

• Halt Government Purchases of Oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – The Consumer-First Energy Act calls for suspending through December 2008 oil purchases for the SPR. Filling could resume when the 90 day average price of crude oil recedes to $75 or less.
  

• Protect Consumers from Price Gouging – The Consumer-First Energy Act would give the President the authority to declare an energy emergency should there be a shortage, disruption or significant pricing anomalies in the oil market.
  

• Stop Market Price Speculation – First, the bill prevents traders of U.S. crude oil from routing transactions through off-shore markets to evade speculative limits and sets forth reporting requirements. The bill also requires the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to set a substantial increase in the margin requirement for all oil futures trades, contracts or transactions.
  

• Stand Up to OPEC – OPEC’s near-monopolistic control over oil prices has lead to record oil prices which have driven up the cost Americans pay at the pump. The Consumer-First Energy Act allows the U.S. Attorney General to bring an enforcement action against any country or company that is colluding to set the price of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product.

Energy experts also sided with the new proposals. “The Consumer-First Energy Act is not a gimmick,” said Robert B. Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor. “It will genuinely help cut the price of gas at the pump, and it’s exactly what hard-pressed Americans need right now.”

Source: US Senate Democrats

READ MORE

• Congress Learns Reasons for Rising Food Costs
• Food Price Problem: Outrageous Oil
• Rising Gas Prices Hurting Small Businesses
• Oil Squeezes the Less Affluent

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Food Price Problem: Outrageous Oil

Why are food prices on the increase?

The Illinois Farm Bureau wants to provide consumers with the proper answers.

A new website, Farmingforyou.org, explains the five major reasons food prices are on the rise: Energy, Inflation, Demand, Weather and Labor

Energy prices are the #1 reason your grocery bill is higher. And the new site offers additional information why:

Gas Tanks
Truck drivers who bring food to the grocery store have taken a beating at the gas pump– even more than you have. The cost of diesel has jumped twice as much as regular unleaded gas. To keep on truckin,’ trucking companies need to pass some of that increase onto food companies, grocery stores, and the end consumer.

Oil-Based Products
Everything from Styrofoam egg cartons to plastic wrapping around juice boxes is made from petroleum. Food companies try to absorb as much of this costs as possible, but sometimes they need to raise prices to recoup.

Electric Bills
Is your budget billing going up? You’re not alone. Food companies have to pay more for the electricity they use to process and package the food so that it is safe and convenient for you.

Check all of the sections on the new site for additional information on why food costs are increasing and what you can do to minimize the impact to you.

Source: IL Farm Bureau

READ MORE

• Energy Prices Play a Larger Role in Cost of Food
• Gasoline Prices Rise and So Does Everything Else
  
• Congress Learns Reasons for Rising Food Costs
• Inflation Surges Due to Fuel Prices
• Big Oil's War on Ethanol

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Food vs Fuel: A Global Myth

Robert Zubrin and Gal Luft have an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune that outlines the reasons why the food versus fuel debate is a global myth. Worth reading and sharing with biofuel friends and foes alike.

"Here are the facts. In the last five years, despite the nearly threefold growth of the corn ethanol industry (or actually because of it), the U.S. corn crop grew by 35 percent, the production of distillers grain (a high-value animal feed made from the protein saved from the corn used for ethanol) quadrupled and the net corn food and feed product of the U.S. increased 26 percent.

Contrary to claims that farmers have cut other crops to grow more corn, U.S. soybean plantings this year are expected to be up 18 percent and wheat plantings up 6 percent. U.S. farm exports are up 23 percent.

America is clearly doing its share in feeding the world.

Agriculture is not a zero-sum game. There are 800 million acres of farmland in the U.S., and only about 30 percent of it is actually being used to grow anything. As a result of the ethanol program, the corn price received by farmers doubled over the last five years, causing a huge increase in the amount grown in terms of acreage and yield.

The increased demand for food from the hundreds of millions of people in China and India rising out of poverty and moving to a more calorie-rich diet affects the price of food the most. Second is the price of fuel.

Higher fuel prices increase the cost of production, transport, wages and packaging, the main cost of retail food."

READ MORE

• Energy Victory Through Competition
• New Texas A&M Study Shows Higher Oil Prices are Impacting Consumer Prices
• New Report Shows Ethanol Lowers Gas Prices
• Food vs. Fuel Is Rhetoric
  
• Biofuel Myths vs Facts

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Gasoline Prices Continue to Soar Upwards

The average price of gasoline continues to soar upward as crude oil prices continue to reach record highs.

The average price of gasoline in the US this week is $3.613 a gallon. This is up nearly 56 cents from last year and 1 cent from last week.

The average price of diesel is nearly $4.15 a gallon, up nearly $1.35 from a year at this time.

High retail prices continue to fuel consumer inflation across America. Oil, a key component of many products and services, raises the prices of most goods and services including food.

Due to the staggering high price of oil and gasoline, the American Energy Advisory Alert remains: SEVERE

Source: Department of Energy

READ MORE

• Pumping Up Gas Prices
• New Texas A&M Study Shows Higher Oil Prices are Impacting Consumer Prices
• Biofuel Myths vs Facts
• New Report Shows Ethanol Reduces Gas Prices

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Getting a Bum Rap

BusinessWeek has an informative article, "Is Ethanol Getting a Bum Rap?", that is worth reading which looks at the recent attention concerning the biofuel.

First, a reality check on corn ethanol, which isn't quite the villain critics make it out to be. Last year, American farmers grew a record 13.1 billion bushels of corn on 85 million acres. Of that, 22% went to make about 7 billion gallons of ethanol. That still left enough corn to supply the domestic market, increase exports to record levels, and stockpile a 10% surplus.

Whew. At least someone looked at the facts instead of rehashing the news release from the American Petroleum industry that we're at the apocalypse unless we burn more fossil fuels.

Source: BusinessWeek

READ MORE

• Give Ethanol a Chance: The Case for Corn Based Fuel
• Big Oil's Big Stall on Ethanol: Keep E85 Out of Driver's Tanks
• Biofuel Myths vs Facts
• OPEC to World: No More Oil for You!
• US Spy Chief Warns of Oil Threat from Russia, China and OPEC

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