President Bush Calls for Farmers to Keep Growing Energy
Weather and energy costs play greatest role in higher food prices

Jefferson City, Mo.– The National Biodiesel Board today applauded President Bush's leadership in responding to the recent frenzy of attacks on biofuels. During a Rose Garden news conference on the economy today, he reinforced America's need for biofuels, saying "It's in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us."

The President also countered questions about biofuels' impact on food prices, stating that the vast majority of the world's food prices "are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices," and not biofuels.

"It's encouraging to hear the President reinforce that producing and using biofuels is the right thing to do for our country," said NBB CEO Joe Jobe. "In recent weeks, U.S. biofuels have been accused of everything from food cost increases to gender discrimination in third world countries. These claims are largely based on faulty science that has not been peer-reviewed, ignoring the large body of credible scientific evidence that shows biodiesel is a bright spot in our fuel supply, socially, environmentally and economically."

Merrill Lynch commodity strategist Francisco Blanch has said that oil and gasoline prices would be about 15 percent higher if biofuel producers were not increasing their output. During his remarks today, the President also said, "Another reason for high gas prices is the lack of refining capacity."

Meanwhile, the U. S. biodiesel industry is helping increase the nation's refining capacity by building plants that produce an American-made, cleaner burning fuel. The 500 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the U.S. in 2007 displaced 20 million barrels of petroleum. Biodiesel is an extremely efficient fuel that creates 3.5 units of energy for every unit of fuel that is required to produce the fuel.

Based in Jefferson City, the NBB is the national trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel research and development in the U.S.

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