INTERNATIONAL food scientists and food relief groups are practically begging America to stop using food - corn - to produce ethanol motor fuel.

The World Bank estimates that world corn prices "rose by over 60 percent from 2005 to 2007, largely because of the U.S. ethanol program." As food prices soar, hungry people have rioted in poor nations.

Ethanol needn't be made from corn. It can be made from wood cellulose, sugar cane, switch grass, beets, to name a few. Corn, in fact, is not the logical choice. It cuts into the food supply. It emits a high level of carbon when burned. It corrodes pipes, so it must be trucked instead of pumped through pipelines, adding to transportation costs.

Yet, kowtowing to the powerful corn lobby, Congress has funneled almost all ethanol research dollars into corn. Corn ethanol producers enjoy a 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit. That gives corn a major edge.

The predictable has happened. U.S. agribusiness and farmers have converted many wheat fields to corn. They grew more ethanol-type corn instead of edible corn. The world's grain supply has dropped dramatically, compounded by drought.

Some economists estimate that ethanol plants already gobble up close to half the U.S. corn crop.

Last year, as gasoline prices spiked, Congress quadrupled the percentage of biofuels that must be in U.S. gasoline by 2022. Another bonanza for corn.

In his 2006 State of the Union speech, President Bush mentioned switch-grass ethanol, but he has banged the drum ever since for increased corn ethanol production. He has refused to waive a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on foreign ethanol, which would otherwise be cheaper than domestic.

In early May, pressed to do something about rising world hunger, Bush proposed $770 million in additional food-aid spending. That amount would pay for about three days of his Iraq war. Then he cynically attached the aid to a war-spending bill.

Congress must take meaningful action. We hope West Virginia's members help steer federal research dollars and tax credits to non-food ethanol - and ignore the wishes of big investors now sheltering their cash in grain futures, profiting on world hunger, as reported in Forbes and other business magazines.

Food giants Tyson, Kellogg and Kraft have all hired lobbyists to battle corn ethanol. Small business groups are on the warpath. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have called for reduced corn subsidies.

In April, commenting on international food riots, George Bush said he supports corn ethanol because "it's in our national interest that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us."

Fine. But the fuel should be produced from other plants, not from a pillar of the food supply. It's also in America's national interest to prevent hunger and dangerous unrest in parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.

The World Bank estimates that world corn prices "rose by over 60 percent from 2005 to 2007, largely because of the U.S. ethanol program." As food prices soar, hungry people have rioted in poor nations.

Ethanol needn't be made from corn. It can be made from wood cellulose, sugar cane, switch grass, beets, to name a few. Corn, in fact, is not the logical choice. It cuts into the food supply. It emits a high level of carbon when burned. It corrodes pipes, so it must be trucked instead of pumped through pipelines, adding to transportation costs.

Yet, kowtowing to the powerful corn lobby, Congress has funneled almost all ethanol research dollars into corn. Corn ethanol producers enjoy a 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit. That gives corn a major edge.

The predictable has happened. U.S. agribusiness and farmers have converted many wheat fields to corn. They grew more ethanol-type corn instead of edible corn. The world's grain supply has dropped dramatically, compounded by drought.

Some economists estimate that ethanol plants already gobble up close to half the U.S. corn crop.

Last year, as gasoline prices spiked, Congress quadrupled the percentage of biofuels that must be in U.S. gasoline by 2022. Another bonanza for corn.

In his 2006 State of the Union speech, President Bush mentioned switch-grass ethanol, but he has banged the drum ever since for increased corn ethanol production. He has refused to waive a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on foreign ethanol, which would otherwise be cheaper than domestic.

In early May, pressed to do something about rising world hunger, Bush proposed $770 million in additional food-aid spending. That amount would pay for about three days of his Iraq war. Then he cynically attached the aid to a war-spending bill.

Congress must take meaningful action. We hope West Virginia's members help steer federal research dollars and tax credits to non-food ethanol - and ignore the wishes of big investors now sheltering their cash in grain futures, profiting on world hunger, as reported in Forbes and other business magazines.

Food giants Tyson, Kellogg and Kraft have all hired lobbyists to battle corn ethanol. Small business groups are on the warpath. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have called for reduced corn subsidies.

In April, commenting on international food riots, George Bush said he supports corn ethanol because "it's in our national interest that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us."

Fine. But the fuel should be produced from other plants, not from a pillar of the food supply. It's also in America's national interest to prevent hunger and dangerous unrest in parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.