Soaring Food Prices

I'm pretty sure stories like this or this one from the Philippines or this one from Bangladesh are exactly what the 'environmental extremists' have been predicting for years: rising costs leading to shortages, leading to social unrest, leading to political instability in parts of the world least able to withstand them.

The articles point out that the problems are being exacerbated by increased spending on biofuels programs, which divert food production towards ethanol production and the like. It's a lot easier for governments to divert subsidies towards this kind of production - it provides the illusion that we're getting our energy from wholesame Midwest farmers instead of crazy Mideast sheikhs - but avoids the real issues of energy efficiency and promoting conservation, which we're going to have to deal with sooner or later.