Biofuels

I came across this San Francisco/Tokyo-based organization, RAN (Rainforest Action Network) and I thought their work was well worth publicizing. Their website has a very informative section on biofuels.

According to RAN, there is a huge which difference between biofuels made from recycled waste products and the ones that are actually arriving at the market, which it has named “agrifuels”, or “agribusinesses’ industrial alternative”. Says the oganization: “To meet increasing demand for these fuels, U.S. agribusinesses are destroying pristine ecosystems to make way for palm and soy plantations. Clearing the rainforest furthers global warming by releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and threatens to increase world hunger by diverting crops from food. Don’t support biofuels that come from newly cleared rainforests.”

In fact, the European Union recently announced plans to cut back on the use of biofuels, a major policy change on previous plans that would actually stimulate their use. The EU is worried about the environmental impact of biofuels on rain forests (because of deforestation) and food prices. The International Herald Tribune has the full story.

On this page here you can get the lowdown on the destruction that agribusiness is promoting on the world’s most valuable ecosystems: the rainforests. It’s well worth getting to know these facts in order to make informed decisions as a consumer and citizen.

Alternative Energy