Biofuel policies are hurting the environment and rural people, says the BBC.
European Union policies promoting biofuels are resulting in the displacement of native peoples, the cutting down of forests, a rise if food costs, and an increase of carbon emissions. In Malindi, Kenya, the bulldozers have moved in in order to clear the land of the local people which has been handed over to an Italian company to grow Jatropha, a plant that, according to some reports, increases carbon emissions.
But it's all okay. The important thing is not that environmental policies actually improve the environment. The most important thing is that liberals feel good about themselves, and this can be accomplished by simply passing laws and implementing policies with really good titles on them that make them sound as if they will actually do something.
Then everyone can go home and pretend they really did something, even though they really didn't.
Once you realize these things, everything makes sense.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
1 comment:
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I can understand arguments that the carbon released in the production of biofuels is greater than the carbon level recovered by the plants because the energy used is greater than the energy stored. While those arguments may or may not be true, they at least make sense. However, even if true, that could also just be an issue of efficiency.
ReplyDeleteIt does not make sense that growing a plant increases the net carbon dioxide levels. 99.9% of the carbon in that plant will be coming from the surrounding soil or the atmosphere (the rest was in the seed to beging with).
Does government have a valid role in starting off currently unprofitable ventures, with the idea that they can be made profitable? Only the most dyed-in-the-wool libertarian would deny this is never true.