Bush defends his advocacy of ethanol as an energy source
The president says the demand for renewable fuel is not the only factor driving up food costs. He also criticizes Congress for blocking oil and gas exploration in Alaska and in coastal waters.
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — President Bush today defended his emphasis on ethanol to help the nation meet its energy needs, even as food prices rise, saying transportation costs and other factors were driving up grocery bills as well as demand for the renewable fuel.
On the day the government announced the nation had lost 20,000 payroll jobs in April -- and that unemployment had dropped from 5.1% to 5.0% -- the president said he recognized that the nation was facing a difficult period, "but this economy is going to come home."
During a 20-minute speech and then a rare, lengthy question-and-answer session with employees of a high-tech manufacturer, Bush chastised Congress for blocking his efforts to open Alaska lands and coastal waters to oil and gas exploration and drilling.
He also pressed Congress to approve the stalled free trade agreement with Colombia and his proposal to overhaul the government's mortgage program.
But he also shifted easily into a reflective mien as his final term nears its end, saying to a worker in Dallas with whom he was conversing in a demonstration of a computer videoconferencing system: "Tell everybody down there, in about 10 months, I'm coming home."
With that end in sight, the president's remarks brought into focus the newly troubling issues he faces: the struggling economy, energy costs and, now, suddenly rising food prices.
The president for several years has been promoting the use of ethanol -- which is largely made from corn -- to alleviate the nation's shortage of domestically produced energy.
Critics have focused on the new demand for corn as a factor in driving up food prices.
"As you know, I'm an ethanol person," Bush said, in response to a question about food prices in the United States and around the world. "It makes sense for America to be growing energy."
He said that multiple factors played into higher food prices and listed increased energy costs -- which affect transportation and fertilizer prices -- drought and other weather-related problems, and increased demand stemming from greater prosperity in once-poor nations. He noted that the middle class in India has grown to 350 million -- just one segment of the population that is greater than that of the entire United States.
"There are a lot of reasons the price of food is high," he said.
"No question ethanol is a part of it," he said, but he added that it was not the main reason for the increase.
