REX MURPHY REALITY CHECK

Ottawa, ON: Last night on CBC’s The National, Rex Murphy got his facts wrong on biofuels. Here are the facts.

Rex Murphy Myth 1: "Biofuel releases 93 times the amount of greenhouse gas that would be
saved…"
Reality: Mr. Murphy references a Science magazine article which is inherently flawed, and has been
roundly discredited in the academic community. It bases its GHG calculations on 36 billion gallons of
ethanol from corn in the U.S. The fact is the U.S. will never make that much corn ethanol. By law, it
will max out at 15 billion gallons – the rest will be non-food derived cellulosic ethanol. So much for
Rex's commitment to "rationality and real science."

Rex Murphy Myth 2: Mr. Murphy says he won’t go as far as the U.N. calling biofuels "a crime
against humanity.”
Reality: While the U.N. F.A.O. has distanced itself from that statement, Mr. Murphy also won’t go
as far as quoting the head of the U.N. Environment Program, who on April 28th said, "We have
enough food on this planet today to feed everyone.” The U.N.’s Achim Steiner added, "The way that
markets and supplies are currently being influenced by perceptions of future markets is distorting
access to that food.''

Rex Murphy Myth 3: Ethanol is driving up the cost and diminishing the stock of food for the
world's poorest people.
Reality: Oil and gas prices are up 100% in one year. Oil at over $100/barrel has a
disproportionately negative impact on the developing world, where annual incomes are dramatically
lower than in the developed world. Mr. Murphy should note the price of rice and fish are way up.
Both are staples in the developing world and neither has anything to do with biofuels production.

Rex Murphy Myth 4: Biofuels over their life add more CO2 than they save.
Reality: Government of Canada studies and the peer reviewed science is clear. Ethanol and
biodiesel reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and have a positive energy
balance. Mr. Murphy’s claims are based on those of a bug doctor at Cornell, who, by the way, also
wants state-sanctioned population control to reduce the world population from over 6 billion to 2
billion.

For more information, please contact:
Robin Speer, Vice President, Public Affairs, CRFA
613-295-6485 or visit www.greenfuels.org