What's Fueling The Food Shortages?

The EU is being urged by British MP's to abandon its biofuels targets because they are damaging the environment. They say biofuels are ineffective at cutting greenhouse gases and can be expensive. The recommendation comes just before the EU is due to embark on a completely new climate change strategy. Critics of that strategy say the EU doesn't know how to ensure that biofuels production on agricultural land will not push up food prices or displace food production, forcing peasants or other agri-businesses into felling other virgin forest to grow food crops.

The British government's Environmental Audit Committee says that the EU and the UK government should concentrate on the use of "sustainable" biofuels. According to committee chairman Tim Yeo, "Biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions . . but at present most biofuels have a detrimental impact on the environment overall." Even an internal EU report leaked to reporters late last week criticizes the EU's plan to boost the use of biofuels in transport, concluding that their costs outweigh the benefits.

Last fall, Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen published findings that the release of nitrous oxide from rapeseed oil and corn can contribute as much or more to global warming than the fossil fuels they displace. In his paper, Crutzen goes on to say production of biofuels from grasses (with less nitrogen demand) have more favorable climate impacts.

Meanwhile, the soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned last month. Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, the agency said.

Of course, George W. thinks that biofuel production is a fantastic idea-- he recently made a partial payment on his political debt to corporate agriculture by providing $160 million for the construction of three bio-refineries to expand U.S. ethanol production. Archer Daniels Midland, one of our country's top polluters, has contributed over $3 million to political campaigns the last eight years-- and was also a leading force in lobbying for the 54 cent per gallon tariff that the U.S. government has imposed on imports of sugar-cane based ethanol from Brazil, which is cheaper than ADM’s corn-based fuel.

Check out this posting by Dan Welch for many more details on the Bush administration's relationship with corporate agriculture and their (sordid?) love affair with corn-based ethanol.