SAN FRANCISCO - January 9 - Rainforest Action Network Executive Director Michael Brune criticized Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) today for accepting $67 million in government subsidies to study carbon sequestration at its Decatur, Ill., ethanol plant.

“ADM is clearly trying to position itself as a leader in ‘green’ fuel, but this new carbon sequestration project won’t come close to offsetting the carbon emissions ADM generates by slashing and burning rainforests to grow palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia, one of the countries where deforestation made the largest impact on greenhouse gas emissions, has catapulted to third place in global rankings of the worst greenhouse gas polluters.

“This project is corporate greenwashing at its worst. In yet another layer of corporate misinformation, ADM markets and sells the palm oil it produces on cleared rainforest land to Europe as environmentally friendly biodiesel. In fact, the deforestation that accompanies the production of palm oil is so devastating that palm oil, over its lifecycle, can emit 10 times more greenhouse gas pollution than gasoline.

“ADM already reaps government subsidies for ethanol production, even though ethanol requires nearly as much fossil fuel to produce as it generates. Now ADM is taking taxpayer dollars for yet another boondoggle: carbon sequestration. Studies have shown that carbon sequestration is a technology that will not be commercially viable for at least another decade, if ever.

“ADM would do more for the planet if it would simply agree to stop destroying rainforests to produce agrofuels. And it would do more for Americans if it stopped picking our pockets for solutions that simply don’t work.”

Rainforest Action Network’s Rainforest Agribusiness campaign is pressuring ADM, Bunge and Cargill to stop expanding their operations into the world’s pristine rainforests to grow soy and palm oil, largely to produce industrial biofuels.

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