WASHINGTON – Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, released the following statement in response to a “study” funded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). During its launch, Growth Energy called on GMA and its members to come clean about the smear campaign it operated to blame ethanol production for higher food prices. Growth Energy challenged GMA to apologize for its propaganda campaign or lower its prices. In November 2008, Growth Energy launched a countdown clock to track the hours and days elapsed since it called on Big Food to lower prices for consumers at the grocery store. See the countdown clock at GrowthEnergy.org.
“Here we go again. The same people who spent millions last year in a well-organized, well-orchestrated campaign to shift the blame from themselves to hard-working American farmers and renewable fuel producers are at it again. Their claims are directly contradicted by the comprehensive research conducted by the widely-respected Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). In the study release by FAPRI last week, it showed that increasing the amount of ethanol in our fuel supply to 15 percent would result in a ZERO percent change in consumer food expenditures and minimal changes in land use. The truth is that increasing the amount of ethanol in our fuel supply will help create new green-collar jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve our national security, and green our environment. As always, Big Food manufacturers are trying to stand in the way of this progress to protect their profits at the expense of hard-working Americans.”
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.