The U.S. program subsidizing the use of corn for the production of fuel ethanol came under sharp criticism at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Economists told the panel the program leads to higher food prices.
在美国国会参议院星期三举行的听证会上，美国政府补贴用玉米生产燃料乙醇的项目遭到尖锐的批评。经济学者对一个参议院小组委员会说，这个项目导致了食品价格上升。
Corn prices worldwide have increased by 50 percent over the past year. John Sununu, a Republican senator opposed to farm subsidies, says corn prices have risen in part because America is using increasing amounts of corn to produce fuel for automobiles.
世界范围的玉米价格过去一年来增长了百分之50。共和党参议员约翰.苏努努反对农业补贴。他说，玉米价格上升，部分是因为美国使用越来越多的玉米生产汽车所需的燃料造成的。
"When you're diverting a third of the [corn] crop to ethanol it has a real impact on prices," said Senator Sununu. "To produce a gallon of ethanol takes 1700 gallons of water. Thirty million acres of land, going to produce the corn for ethanol."
他说：“你用三分之一的玉米生产乙醇，这就对粮食价格产生了实质性的冲击。生产一加仑乙醇，需要1700加仑的水，有3000万英亩的玉米将用于制造乙醇 。”
Calling the US ethanol program a disaster, Sununu said it is replete with taxpayer subsidies as both farmers and ethanol producers receive tax breaks from the government. In addition, he said, imports of cheaper sugar-based ethanol are blocked by high tariffs.
苏努努称美国的乙醇项目是个灾难。他说，政府给农民和乙醇生产企业的减税待遇都是纳税人在补贴。他同时指出，比较便宜的甘蔗乙醇的进口受到高额关税的阻碍。
David Beckmann, the president of a church-based anti-hunger agency, says US farm subsidies should be abolished. Such a move, he says, would help bring down food prices.
戴维.比奇曼是一个反饥饿组织的负责人，他说，美国应该废除农业补贴，这样有助于降低食品价格。
"To have a more dynamic, responsive [subsidy free] agriculture, that is going to bring down food prices in the medium term," said David Beckmann.
他说：“要发展更有活力，反映灵活和没有补贴的农业，才能在中期内降低粮食价格。”
Both Beckmann and Sunnunu spoke at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Other experts told the committee ending the ethanol program could reduce corn prices by about 15 percent.
苏努努和比奇曼都是在参议院国土安全和政府事务委员会上作证时发表上述观点的。其他专家告诉这个委员说，结束乙醇项目可以把玉米价格降低百分之15。
Josette Sheeran, the head of the Rome-based United Nations World Food Program, says the high price of oil has boosted the demand for food-based alternative fuels. This, she says, has contributed to the overall rise in food prices.
总部在罗马的联合国世界粮食计划署执行干事约赛特.施林表示，油价窜升增加了人们对石油替代品生物燃料的需求，这也推动了食品总体价格的上涨。
"And so what we're finding is that often energy bidders can outbid food buyers and consumers, and the higher the price of oil is the higher the price the energy producers are willing to pay," said Josette Sheeran.
施林说：“我们发现，通常能源商提出的价格总是会高于食品购买者和消费者，因此油价越高，能源生产商就越愿意出资付款。”
Sheeran said in Africa palm oil and cassava are increasingly being used as alternative fuels.
施林说，在非洲，棕榈油和木薯越来越普遍地被用作替代燃料。 |