"Repeal the Renewable Fuel Mandate"

"Under the RFS, the average grocery bill for families has grown by $2,000 annually. Lower-income families, who spend a greater percentage of their paycheck on groceries, have been hit especially hard -- so much so that poverty advocates are now demanding that U.S. corn feed mouths rather than fuel tanks. According to Oxfam America, the grain required to fill an SUV's gas tank with biofuels is enough to feed one person for a year."

http://www.voiceofthevalley.com/community_news/news/article_60bc6a32-0c9f-11e4-beb8-0017a43b2370.html

"Gulf dead zone should be smaller than 2013, tied to ethanol production" http://fuelfix.com/

"The dead zone occurs when nitrogen-based fertilizer washes from Corn Belt  farms into the Mississippi River and winds its way south into the Gulf, providing nutrients for a bloom of algae. When the bloom dies, it leaves oxygen-depleted water where  other marine life can’t survive.

An indirect link was established between the dead zone and U.S. ethanol production when, in 2012, the dead zone contracted dramatically after an extreme drought damaged corn crops."

"Why is the EPA stalling on ethanol?" Chicago Tribune

"The Renewable Fuel Standard also requires more use of so-called advanced biofuels. Nearly all the ethanol produced in the U.S. today comes from corn — roughly 40 percent of the nation's largest cash crop gets burned up in gas tanks. Congress approved the RFS mostly to encourage commercial production of ethanol from inedible ingredients such as grass or wood chips.

That idea has flopped. Very little of this next-generation ethanol is available commercially. The outlook is bleak for ramping up production. Yet under the law, refiners and blenders are required to boost their use of this scarce fuel, which adds more unnecessary costs."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-ethanol-raises-gas-prices-edit-0712-20140712,0,6446153.story

"EU to limit production of biofuels from food crops" The Guardian

"Initially, the EU backed biofuels as a way to tackle climate change, but research has since shown that making fuel out of crops such as maize displaces other crops, forces the clearing of valuable habitats, and can inflate food prices."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/13/eu-biofuels-food-crops

"EU agrees plan to cap use of food-based biofuels"

"EU energy ministers agreed a deal on Friday to limit production of biofuels made from food crops, responding to criticism these stoke inflation and do more environmental harm than good."
http://www.todayszaman.com/business_eu-agrees-plan-to-cap-use-of-food-based-biofuels_350328.html