UN: Biofuel Production ‘Criminal Path’ to Global Food Crisis
GENEVA, Switzerland - The United States and the European Union have taken a “criminal path” by contributing to an explosive rise in global food prices through using food crops to produce biofuels, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food said today.
At a press conference in Geneva, Jean Ziegler of Switzerland said that fuel policies pursued by the U.S. and the EU were one of the main causes of the current worldwide food crisis.
Ziegler was speaking before a meeting in Bern, Switzerland between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of key United Nations agencies.
Ziegler said that last year the United States used a third of its corn crop to create biofuels, while the European Union is planning to have 10 percent of its petrol supplied by biofuels.
The Special Rapporteur has called for a five-year moratorium on the production of biofuels.
Ziegler also said that speculation on international markets is behind 30 percent of the increase in food prices.
He said that companies such as Cargill, which controls a quarter of all cereal production, have enormous power over the market. He added that hedge funds are also making huge profits from raw materials markets, and called for new financial regulations to prevent such speculation.
The Special Rapporteur warned of worsening food riots and a “horrifying” increase in deaths by starvation before reforms could take effect.
Meanwhile, speaking in Rome today, a nutritionist with the UN World Food Programme said that “global price rises mean that food is literally being taken out of the mouths of hungry children whose parents can no longer afford to feed them.”
Andrew Thorne-Lyman said that even temporarily depriving children of the nutrients they need to grow and thrive can leave permanent scars in terms of stunting their physical growth and intellectual potential.
He said that families in the developing world are “finding their buying power has been slashed by food price rises, meaning that they can buy less food or food which isn’t as nutritious.”
But not everyone agrees. Toni Nuernberg, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council based in Omaha, Nebraska, says, “I can unequivocally state that ethanol does not take food from the mouths of starving people.”
“Ethanol production uses field corn - most of which is fed to livestock with only a small percentage going into cereals and snacks. In fact, only the starch portion of the corn kernel is used to produce ethanol. The vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber are converted to other products including sweeteners, corn oil and high-value livestock feed - feed which helps livestock producers add to the overall food supply,” said Nuernberg on Tuesday.
Nuernberg relates rising energy costs to food bills, as growers fuel tractors and machinery and truckers transport foodstuffs to market.
“The United States spends roughly one billion dollars a day on imported oil. A fraction of these funds would more than make up for the shortfall in the World Food Program,” Nuernberg said. “Ethanol is just one element in our drive to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It should not be a convenient scapegoat for global issues beyond our control.”
A World Bank report issued April 9 agrees with the UN officials. According to “Rising Food Prices: Policy Options and World Bank Response,” increases in global wheat prices reached 181 percent over the 36 months leading up to February 2008, and overall global food prices increased by 83 percent.
Increased bio-fuel production has contributed to the rise in food prices, according to this report. Concerns over oil prices, energy security and climate change have prompted governments to increase bio-fuel production and use leading to greater demand for raw materials including: wheat, soy, maize and palm oil.
Food price hikes are also linked to higher energy and fertilizer prices, a weak dollar and export bans.
The Group of Eight, G8, will take up this matter at its annual meeting in July. The meeting will be attended by the leaders of the eight countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - the same countries said by Ziegler to be on a “criminal path.”
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, as chair of the G8, expressed his intention to raise the matter at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in letters to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Robert Zoellick on April 18.
Rapid increases in the large-scale production of liquid biofuels in developing countries could increase the marginalization of women in rural areas, threatening their livelihoods, according to a new study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.
“Unless policies are adopted in developing countries to strengthen the participation of small farmers, especially women in biofuel production by increasing their access to land, capital and technology - gender inequalities are likely to become more marked and women’s vulnerability to hunger and poverty further exacerbated,” said Yianna Lambrou, co-author of the paper, “Gender and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production - Minimizing the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities.”
“Biofuel production certainly offers opportunities for farmers - but they will only trickle down to the farm level, especially to women, if pro-poor policies are put in place that also empower women,” said Lambrou.
Analysis being carried out by the world’s largest international food aid organization supports World Bank estimates that about 100 million people have been pushed deeper into poverty by the high food prices.
The UN World Food Programme, WFP, aims to feed 73 million people globally this year, but the agency now estimates it needs at least US$500 million more than anticipated last year to meet its 2008 operational budget of US$3.4 billion.
The half-billion dollar increase is solely due to the sharp hike in food and transport costs over the last few months.
WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran of the United States says that high food prices are creating the biggest challenge that WFP has faced in its 45 year history, a “silent tsunami” of hunger.
Sheeran said that WFP could only fill a cup with half the food that it could last year because of rising food prices.
“The response calls for large-scale, high-level action by the global community, focused on emergency and longer-term solutions,” she said.
WFP is urging a comprehensive approach where all parties, from governments to UN agencies to nongovernmental organizations, all work together.
Alongside other partners, WFP will follow a three-track response. In the short term, WFP will seek full funding for targeted food safety nets and mother-child health programs in extreme situations. School feeding programs will be scaled up and used as a platform for urgent, nutritional interventions.
In the medium term, WFP will offer its huge logistics capacity to support life-saving distribution networks. Every hour of the day, WFP has 30 ships on the high seas, 5,000 trucks on the ground and 70 aircraft in the sky, delivering food to the hungry. Cash and voucher programs will be supported and so will local purchases from small farmers, helping them to afford inputs and sustain livelihoods;
In the longer term, WFP will support policy reform and provide advice and technical support to governments engaging in agricultural development programs.
Many governments are already taking action. Some are expanding targeted safety nets, such as cash transfer programs to vulnerable groups, food-for-work programs, or emergency food aid distribution. Several countries have lowered tariffs and other taxes on key staples, in order to provide some relief to consumers.
Other countries have put in place export bans, which are detrimental to food importers and reduce incentives for production.
Food crop prices are expected to remain high in 2008 and 2009 and then begin to decline, but they are likely to remain well above the 2004 levels through 2015 for most food crops.
© Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008
The American dinner table:
Circa 1958:
Eat your vegetables children, there are people in China who are starving for that food.
Circa 2008:
Eat your corn children, there are SUVs in America that are starving for that fuel.
Eat Ed Schultz
This famine is the fruit of the International Loan Sharks and Corporate Hit Men. Greed conquors all?
And, still, no body dares to name names. Here, let me help: is it just another one of those bushcoincidences that the “foods” in short supply just happen to be the same ones Monsanto has “created” and “own” the “patent” rights for?
Over 70% of corn, soy and rice are now transgenic mutant organisms (TMOs, erroneously referred to as genetically modified,) that no one in the world wants to actually eat? And which cannot be replanted without “permission” - and special zombie activation chemicals - from Monsanto and their small gang of Big Corp Ag friends?
Jan, 2008: “Monsanto profited handsomely from federal subsidies for ethanol, which led to a near-record planting of corn across the Midwest. Between 2000 and 2007, the use of genetically modified corn seed grew from 25% of acres planted to 73% in the U.S., and the Department of Agriculture recently started giving farmers a break on insurance premiums if they use these seeds, creating yet another incentive.”
Just cause they created Agent Orange doesn’t mean they can’t be trusted with introducing mutant organisms never seen on Earth before into our fragile food chain in their sworn benevolent “mission” to “feed the world,” right?
March, 2008: “If Monsanto has its way, you won’t know what’s in your milk. The food-tech leader is introducing bills to U.S. states that would ban milk labels claiming products are “growth hormone-free.” But Monsanto’s efforts aren’t going unnoticed.”
And, so far, Big Corp Ag has only delivered half it’s usual annual bribe bucks - $25,180,663. But then again, it’s only April…
If We The People don’t start naming names and shaming the names named as anti-everything-American (not to mention human,) they’ll keep poisoning us and/or starving us while simultaneously overcharging us for the pleasure…
The purpose of the WFP is to keep the capitalist’s ship afloat, to come to the capitalist’s rescue when the capitalist’s ship hits an iceberg. The WFP cannot advocate land, food, water rights for all people because the WFP exists to serve the capitalist, not the people. Obviously the capitalist has to be kicked out of Washington DC and this will happen of course when we cage the capitalist to make him take orders from the people.
Realistically speaking, there isn’t a fart’s chance in a windstorm we are going to stop the corporatocracy from continuing their evil empire unless we get enough people to get really serious about bringing our dilemna to their attention.
I was trying to focus last night on what ACTIONS would need to take place in order for that to take place.
Anyone? Ideas?
Serious ideas?
The link below is a SERIOUS idea written by John Nichols over at The Nation:
Family Farmers Respond to the Food Crisis
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/316248
Support your local farmers and your community will not go be hungry!
“Ethanol production uses field corn - most of which is fed to livestock with only a small percentage going into cereals and snacks. In fact, only the starch portion of the corn kernel is used to produce ethanol. The vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber are converted to other products including sweeteners, corn oil and high-value livestock feed - feed which helps livestock producers add to the overall food supply,” said Nuernberg on Tuesday.
**it is the livestock industry that is particularly upset about biofuels because it sheds light on their own wasteful criminal industries. A recent study was funded by livestock industries condemning biofuels.
Talk about massive hypocrites.
Francis Moore Lappe talked about the sin of livestock production robbing poor people of food in the 60s.
Bush is still pushing the bio-fuel and hydrogen economy fantasies. He is pushing for the ‘eco-friendly’ opening of ANWR to development, saying that the US NEEDS the paltry 67 million gallons of gas that would be produced. He does not say that the amount of gas produced would be gone in six months at present consumption rates.
We have a choice people.
Food. Or Fuel.
Our guts. Or our gas-guzzlers.
The old taunt of ‘Get a Horse!’ may soon be a plea for aid…
Just a quick note…
A newspaper here in vancouver where I live discussed, quite seriously, the prospect of paying $10 for a loaf of bread within the next year or so.
Can’t say we weren’t warned…
This is deliberate, passive genocide.
The Big Honchos know about increasing population too. So you keep making your bucks by using food. So? Millions starve … primarily the poor, and the “inferior” populations are reduced. How convenient a way to do it. The Eugenics Movement championed by the very rich of the 1920’s is still alive and well.
Attitudes often include: well, if they’re poor, there must be something wrong with THEM. In this country many believe if they’re on welfare, they are slackers, lazy, corrupt, cheats, etcetera. Ronald Reagan made much of “Welfare Queens.” The actual statistic was and is that less than 1 per cent of people who apply for or are on welfare have committed or commit some kind of fraud.
This is an increasingly ugly, heartless world where the power hungry reside and hold sway. Material shortages are unknown to them. They have no understanding whatsoever of how a mother or father feels when they cannot even feed a cup of rice or cereal to their child or scramble up an egg when there are no eggs available.
Likely it will get worse before it gets better … if it ever does. But that’s where the rest of us come in. Will we be willing to share what we have? Offer a meal or meals to the down-and-outers who come to our door?
The Times They are A-changin’.
We’ll see. We’ll find out who we are and whether we, as individuals, are any different than those in power.
peace … CM
For those of you clueless about Alcohol fuel:
Corn = 200 gallons of ethanol per acre
Beets = 1,200 of ethanol per acre
We can make fuel from Kelp (ocean farms)
We can make fuel from Cat Tails (plant along highways and clean up the runoff)
We can make fuel from mesquite (70 million acres of this weed available)
Get a clue before you wag a finger based on propaganda.
READ THIS BOOK and see the truth.
http://www.survival-international.org/campaigns/progresscankill/starvation
Please write to support the Mbya Guarani who are facing massive ag land development and deforestation of traditional territory. It only takes a minute. Perhaps others know of posts for letter writing.
No don’t. Blume likes biofuel, which means he is no longer relevant. Who is is Anandana Shiva. This great woman has spent many years organizing and advocating for Global South farmers. And she’s a winner. so ok so yeah- maybe Earth Democracy has not yet replaced global capitalism- nobody said it would be easy. but she sure has done more than anyone else
civil behavior- this is what you want. not sure how much you can get from the website- but i promise you ill be very happy if you buy her book
http://www.navdanya.org/earthdcracy/index.htm
Almost 70,000 barrels of oil put daily by BushCo into the strategic petroleum reserve, Saudi Arabia reducing production by 85,000 barrels a day, 4,000 EV1 cars crushed in California, oil prices almost doubling in a year, rampant futures speculation driving up prices on Wall Street, oil companies in collusion with government officials & car companies killing electric cars by buying up the technologies such as a proven better battery system, massive corporate welfare given to Big Oil & Big Agra; can anyone say the word financial CONPIRACY here?
For the sake of our national security & a better life for future generations we must get the greedy oil monkey off our backs, and perhaps take a serious look at NATIONALIZING THE DAMNED OIL INDUSTRY!!!
ANWR is NOT the answer (it only will reduce the price at the pump ONE CENT 20 years in the future when in full production)
Corn ethanol is NOT the answer (it starves people around the world & un-necessarily causes inflationary food prices here in the US)
Something like the EV1 electric car, de-subsidizing the fossil fuel industry & funding of good biofuel means such as switchgrass & hemp, conservation measures (including the ‘R’ word…rationing), heavily penalizing un-patriotic speculators artificailly restricting production/supply just to drive up price, demanding from auto manufacturers a continual rise in the CAFE standard for them to stay in business without penalty (if Japan & Germany can substantially do this why can’t we?), and efficient available mass transportation, ARE answers.
If you aren’t going to be open to these solutions you are an un-affordable problem, so get the hell out of the way!!! We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this crap anymore.
The US Federal Reserve is exacerbating the problem by lowering interest rates.
The rate cuts started in August 2007 and every time they lower interest rates, the US dollar’s value drops further, and more cheap money is available for speculators (the same ones that brought you the housing bubble)to further drive up the price of food and fuel.
Another rate cut is planned later this week, so food and fuel prices will continue to skyrocket. The Bush Regime’s “ownership society” that the Federal Reserve enables, continues to make the wealthiest 2% even more wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.
The corn used for livestock and biofuels is sutable for human consumption, just the American carnivours insist on eating a steak and ending a few lives rather then a salad and saving a few lives (this also affects their health).
If more half as much money was spent on biofuel reaserch and production and that money was instead put into reaserch for solar cars then the reliance on petrol would decrease as rapidly as the cost to the consumer. But of course it isnt as profitable as oil so isnt going to happen.
I know that this is kind of off topic but by encouraging birth control and discouraging having alot of children in all countries there will be alot less people to feed and use up the petrol.
Ethanol is stupid. It does nothing for energy independence as it takes as much energy to make it as its worth. Maybe more. Its raised food costs in the US and deprives the US of badly needed export sales. At the same time our diversion of production to corn for ethanol pushes up food prices abroad.
Our tax dollar subsidies make it work!
heard just the other day while discussing ethanol/ bio fuels in the local coffee shop
” will you guys shut up already.. we can’t hear the news, about what Miley Cyrus got in trouble for”… not joking… it’s no wonder we are in the express lane to hell
America loves its “way of life” more than it loves human life. COPYRIGHT 2008. That’s why 100 million people will die from climate change before we take serious action to stabilize the climate. At that point people will sense that global climate change could actually kill them and their children. That is when they will finally be compelled to act. Dumb humans! Let’s hope there’s intelligent life somewhere in the universe. Clearly it’s not widely found around here. Enjoy the decline and fall of western capitalism cuz it’s going to be a wild ride.
“I know that this is kind of off topic but by encouraging birth control and discouraging having alot of children in all countries there will be alot less people to feed and use up the petrol.”
SSW, this is not off-topic at all. This is just perfect logic that is ignored by those that write the headline stories.
Hats off to Lula da Silva, presidente of Brazil. He has done more to subsidise birth control than in almost any other third-world country, and I wish other third-world leaders and governments would follow his lead. He may have the wrong opinion on biofuels, hopefully he’ll change his mind about them when he sees what they are doing to food prices. But he has ensured that low-cost contraceptives are available to all Brazilians, regardless of their income.
A World without Integrity – It can’t go on!
“Profit from Food Price Rises
Food prices are soaring. How can investors get a piece of the action.”
Whilst the sentiment from this headline reflects the basics of Free Market Capitalism, the latter of which I hasten to say that I agree with up to a point, it also highlights a serious flaw, and what a previous UK Prime Minister referred to as “The unacceptable face of Capitalism”
We have taken the financial tool of “supply and demand” and converted it into a weapon of abuse, encouraging people to enter a rising market for gain, thus further fuelling price rises which will assist in increasing the numbers of people dying from starvation.
Following a traditional free market discipline in this manner is resulting in either the murder or manslaughter of the worlds poor on a vast and increasing scale – I leave you to decide the intricacies of whether the abuse in this case is premeditated or not.
As a civilisation we seem to have got really good at abuse. You name it we abuse it – Corporate Profits, Politics, Religion, the Planet, each other – and the more we abuse the more chaotic and stressful our lives become as moral integrity evaporates in a sea of self satisfying excess.
The scale of the problem is most dramatically evidenced by its effect upon the natural world, which is now being driven to make adjustments to try and compensate for what we are doing. But these powerful reactions are lost on us because of the blind obsession with which we strive to satisfy our demands for more and more.
For the first time in our history modern technology and communications can help us now more clearly see that how we feed one part of the world can starve the other, as we witness the effects of our own actions being played out upon the global stage.
This new openness must bring greater integrity in our dealings with each other, as we are forced to become more accountable for actions that can no longer be concealed by boundaries of nation, class and creed.
Integrity cannot continue to be suppressed in this new and fast changing environment. Indeed we need new leadership that understands this, and in so doing also understand how we operate as a species. Only within an environment of confidence and trust can we reduce materialism to just a part of our lives, and not an all consuming passion that is now destroying us.
Inherent within all problems are opportunities and the present crisis in no different. Our growing understanding of each other, brought about through the destruction of traditional barriers, offers the opportunity to dramatically reduce the widespread abuse that we have endured for millennia as warring factions, taking us all to a more intimate level of relationship that the new environment of a Global “Village” will demand.
I’m reading David Wann’s book “Simple Prosperity” and came across a quote. CIVIL BEHAVIOR, it’s not a concrete action, but I think it hits the heart of what you’re asking for.
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers,healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”–David Orr
http://www.earthjuris.org/home.htm
Center for Earth Jurisprudence
Oh come on. “Criminal path”? Those are strong words. If all ethanol production is “criminal” then do we call the production of wine and beer criminal? Couldn’t Napa Valley land be used for food production instead of ethanol production? (it’s called wine!)
Yes, it’s all ethanol. Fermenation is fermentation. Some of you anti-ethanol people are hilarious ranting on and on about ethanol while drinking your favorite Chardonnay (ethanol), India Pale Ale (ethanol), or Vodka tonic (ethanol).
In response to an above comment Ethanol is not ’stupid’..(making ethanol from corn is stupid perhaps) Burning toxic fossil fuels which pollute the air & water is incredibly stupid(one gallon of gasoline contaminates a thousand gallons of water) I’m not sure bio-fuels are to blame for high food prices as much as the increased meat consumption(cows & pigs) of more humans such as the Chinese(who seem to be following habits of Westerners who selfishly think they need to eat a cow(hamburger or steak)or pig(bacon) every day…The livestock industry uses over four times as much grains as bio-fuels I think..
I live in Asia & I would love to see all vehicles run off ethanol instead of gasoline as the air is toxic to breathe in most cities(electric cars & scooters would be even better of course) Many children here have asthma as the pollution levels are off the charts..So let’s look in the mirror at our ‘meat’(animal flesh) habits & of course question anything the Repubs & Bush support(corn ethanol,IRAQ OCCUPATION,NCLB,etc,etc,etc…but I see ethanol from PLANTS(like sugar cane,biomass,etc)as part of a POSITIVE solution to the TOXIC reality of burning fossil fuels for our fuel-driven vehicles!
Who cares if a few million children die of starvation, as long as hedge fund managers and commodity speculators prosper?
It would probably take only a half dozen high profile executions of capitalist speculators (as occurred in China)to bring food prices down. It’s estimated, for example, that speculation adds $20-30 per barrel of oil.
Headline in today’s newspaper :” Indian Diet behind Food Crisis”
Extract from the article :”it was (Rice’s) critique about consumption pattern in China and India and the consequent cap on their exports, and her promise to “have a look at” it, that raised eyebrows. US ally Japan, which is also a major food importing country, has also criticized the ban on food exports by some countries and promised to take it up at the WTO.
“We obviously have to look at places where production seems to be declining and declining to the point that people are actually putting export caps on the amount of food. Now, some of that is not so much declining production as apparently improvement in the diets of people, for instance, in China and India, and then pressures to keep food inside the country. So, that’s another element that we have to look at,” Rice said.”
Seriously, what would you First Worlders have us Third Worlders do .Give you first call on the food grain we’ve produced with our blood , sweat , toil .And ship the lot off to you .
Just so that MacD and KFC can go their merry way , serving their staple fare to millions of the already obese and the engorged . Just so that the thousands of fat cats (on multi million dollar bonuses etc .) don’t have to pay very much more for their sushi and fancy rice-draped concoctions at the Michelin Three Star restaurants they frequent.
While we tighten our belts and starve.
My suggestions:
1. Cancel all subsidies related to ethanol.
2. Cancel all patents on new forms of life. Life, and changing life is the jurisdiction of God.
3. Understand Monsanto demands farmers spill their seed on the ground.
4. Sales tax on all trade on stock market.
5. Plant a garden. A big one with fruit trees. Share.
We are our brother’s keeper.
In my Humble Oil opinion, this story is just one small piece of the International corruption pie.
I figure the Clintons would keep the coverup of the remaining million JFK government documents just like they always did so after talking with a Korean war vet yesterday I took his suggestion and googled the Bush Financial Empire and I am not about to check out all of the 0ne million 800 thousnd links, but this one on the first page caught my eye and is very revealing as to why the republicans want to run against the so easily trashable Clintons. It is about the Bush Clinton connections at:
http://www.realnews.org/index.php-option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=189.htm
I am also finding Mucho stuffo googlein Bush Clinton Financial connections at http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Bush+Clinton+financial+connections&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Now is it any wonder why the Republicans want to run against the Clintons?….
I think it is because whoever wins, the War Machine corruption and all the Assassinations will continue to be covered up.
Shalom
Archer Midland — the largest richest agribusiness corporate farmer in U.S. gets literally millions subsidies from U.S. government to grow corn for ethanol, even though other fibers produce more bang for the buck and less acreage. What’s wrong with this picture??? Everything??
Toni Nuernberg, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council based in Omaha, Nebraska, says, “I can unequivocally state that ethanol does not take food from the mouths of starving people. Ethanol production uses field corn…”
Yadda, yadda, yadda. I can think of another suitable use for an ear of corn, Ms. Hack Nuernberg.
And at the same time, I can think of another suitable use for the land, the tractor fuel, the subsidies, and the transportation costs when it comes to farming: GROW FOOD, YOU SILLY TWIT!
wonderingyou,
Save the corn, use the corncob.
Realistically speaking, there isn’t a fart’s chance in a windstorm we are going to stop the corporatocracy from continuing their evil empire unless we get enough people to get really serious about bringing our dilemna to their attention.
I was trying to focus last night on what ACTIONS would need to take place in order for that to take place.
Anyone? Ideas?
—————–
Yes. In order to get the information out to the masses you must have access to Mass Media - specifically tv and radio.
Since the neo-cons outnumber progressives on the radio 98% to 2% good luck. The best hope to even out these numbers is to have the Fairness Doctrine re-instated.
Progressives have about 5 or 6 major radio hosts. None of them are discussing this issue. Most of them don’t even support the Fairness Doctrine.
You need to call their shows and scream and yell.
As one poster here mentioned Ed Schultz, with the biggest Progressive audience of ANY personality doesn’t believe ethanol is contributing to rising food prices. I’ve sent him 20 emails proving he’s wrong but he doesn’t read them and refuses to admit he’s wrong.
You need to call his show and start yelling at him. 1-800-WE-GOT-ED. He’s on live from 12-3pm Eastern time.
Good luck.
The future is an electric car plugged into a solar powered home.
We could have this FUTURE today with the right leadership.
All the technology necessary is available today.
It’s simply a matter of having a stronger will than the corporate forces intent on stoppin it.
Would someone please explain to me how it is criminal and negligent to produce ethanol and biodiesel with crops in the United States when we’re already PAYING farmers subsidies to not grow crops and have been doing so since the Carter administration?
Never mind that the same corn used for ethanol is not used for humans and results in several byproducts that are used agiculturally on top of the actual ethanol production. Sweet corn, which is eaten by people, is by far the smallest percentage of corn grown in the United States and always has been. It’s ridiculous when you have people from other nations complaining that the wealthier and better fed nations are somehow in the wrong for trying to deal with their own economic problems instead of bowing to the needs people that were already cursing us before food problems arose.
Blaming the US an EU for the production of biofuels is like blaming OPEC countries for setting oil prices too high. Lowering the price of oil would in turn lower food prices, but you don’t see anyone saying anything about THAT on a global level. Especially when it doesn’t matter how much food you grow unless you can afford to ship it.
Come on people, try to find solutions to your problems that don’t involve whining.
Jashu,
Sure, I’ll explain how it is criminal and negligent, just as soon as you show me how two wrongs make a right. Regarding biofuel crops not [widely] being used for human foods, unblind yourself to the reality that, were those fields being used for food instead of fuel, the same energy inputs would go toward rebuilding America’s food security instead of lining the pockets of multinationals. Don’t fall for the industry’s misdirection, and don’t let yourself become an echo-chamber. The same goes for the presumption that these corporations’ (or, if you prefer, “corporatized nations’”) biofuel projects are meant to “deal with their own economic problems.” They are for profit. Pure and simple.
And WTF with your claim that nobody’s saying lower fuel prices would alleviate food costs on a global level? Visit an otolaryngologist.
I guess someone is asleep at the switch, meaning the censor, because I’ve tried posting my comment three times now and it won’t post.
“If all ethanol production is “criminal” then do we call the production of wine and beer criminal? Couldn’t Napa Valley land be used for food production instead of ethanol production? (it’s called wine!)”
It is not rocket science to work this out. Alcohol can and does provide calories for humans. And funny you should mention wine. How you missed it, one can only guess, but wine has medicinal benefits (along with other alcohols).
How many calories do humans get when they put 50 litres of ethanol in their tank, kman2? To what extent is atherosclerosis staved off when one fuels up with ethanol.