Back in August 2006 when we published our first article on the question of the use of Ethanol as an alternative to petroleum derivatives for motor fuel, we hoped that we would provoke a wider discussion on the subject. Well, it appears to be heating up - and maybe we helped just a little. Of course, the larger question, that of Climate Change, is also on everyone's lips, and maybe we helped spark that too!
We have been gratified to see that some of the major organs of world opinion have embraced our arguments, like the crowding out effect that the use of current feed crops, such as corn, will have on the price of food. This topic was analyzed by the New York Times in it's Op-Ed piece of February 6, 2007.
Two other pieces published in the New York Times (1, 2) relating to the mystery of the disappearing honey bees in North America are pointing at possible climatic change or pesticide misuse as causative factors. Either of these possible causes are alarming. The impact of a major reduction in the number of bees pollinating crops in North America is dire indeed.
The whole bio-fuel question really heated up with the early March visit of President Bush to Brazil. The agreement signed at that time will virtually guarantee that there will be vastly increased usage of ethanol and other bio-derivatives. What can we expect from this development?
On March 21, 2007 The Guardian published an article touching on another aspect that we highlighted - that of the veiled slavery in the cane fields of Brazil. Since this topic is of importance to us, our corespondent sent a letter to the Guardian, which we quote below:
Dear Sirs.
Your article about slave labor in Brazil was very appropriate and came at the right time, when the bleak future for the Brazilian ecosystem worries only a few people like us. For those that care about the remains of the forests in this country it is encouraging to realize that things are being seen by the European press in the same context that we see and understand.
The slave labor practices used in cane sugar production were introduced in Brazil five centuries ago, they are real, and they are only the tip of the iceberg. Worse than this is to see the sugar cane plantations advancing over pasture lands and savannas, turning large farms that once produced food for humans, and the remains of forests, into green but sterile deserts of raw material for ethanol production.
We have been following the track of sugar cane expansion realizing that places where birds, mammals and insects could once be seen have disappeared, thanks to the abrupt transformation of local vegetation into sugar cane fields.
It will be of enormous value if you continue to draw the attention of people, both inside Brazil and outside of the country, to what is happening in the name of a big mistake, conceived by those who see slave labor and destruction of the environment as a solution for replacing oil.
We humans have to understand that burning valuable liquids, petroleum AND ethanol, can never be a final solution to the problems of private transport. There has to be a better way - starting with public transportation that is both safe and effective. The immediate true cost of maintaining the present system of transportation should not be pushed off onto the rural poor in developing countries. If it is, the eventual true cost, which will include the destruction of the environment as we know it, will be paid by all humans, rich and poor alike.
Today, March 27, 2007 the Guardian did a follow-up, which includes some of the ideas expressed in our letter and is calling for a moratorium on the expanded use of ethanol as fuel.
Truly, this subject requires much more study. The rush to implement poorly thought out solutions may very well bring more ecological problems with them, possibly even worse than those they are trying to solve!
