This image of razed rainforest in Brazil’s Mato Grasso that’s now planted with soybeans (from which to make fuel) is my definition of a travesty. That’s a bit of transitional forest in the foreground, nature hemmed into a tidy square so the developer can claim ‘conservation’ not doubt.
Time Magazine’s cover story, “The Clean Energy Scam” goes into the details of why ethanol and biofuels made from planting crops aren’t going to solve our global warming problems and in fact, may exacerbate them, creating food shortages to boot. Check it.
From the article:
From his Cessna a mile above the southern Amazon, John Carter looks down on the destruction of the world’s greatest ecological jewel. He watches men converting rain forest into cattle pastures and soybean fields with bulldozers and chains. He sees fires wiping out such gigantic swaths of jungle that scientists now debate the “savannization” of the Amazon. Brazil just announced that deforestation is on track to double this year; Carter, a Texas cowboy with all the subtlety of a chainsaw, says it’s going to get worse fast. “It gives me goose bumps,” says Carter, who founded a nonprofit to promote sustainable ranching on the Amazon frontier. “It’s like witnessing a rape.”
How dare those dirty South Americans aspire to a lifestyle like ours. We should bomb them back into the stone age!
03/30/08 » 8:05 pm »
Shoez, this is not about telling other countries what to do, but going beyond borders are realizing that we ALL have to live here- the rainforests are the lungs of the Earth, creating oxygen for every living thing to breathe. Put another way: If we keep making and using fuel in irresponsible ways that clearly aren’t thought through, we’re fuc*ed.
03/30/08 » 9:13 pm »
The ‘American Way of Life’ has not been all that successful, unless you feel the Nike Swoosh to be an emblem of freedom and well-being. Perhaps encouraging other nations to embrace sustainability will lead to a true sense of globalization, as opposed to one based on mere commerce. Perhaps embracing traditional cutlures and their practices that are more in harmony with the earth will help to move away from the wanton destruction of our forests and ecosystems?
The perception of ignorant, pseudo-enviro, trendy Americans trying to spray-paint the world green, regardless of indigenous cultures, poverty and squalor is passe, at this point. We don’t have time to blame ’stupid Americans’ for not understanding why the rest of the world wants to be able to buy a Big Mac. The time is now to pressure, demand, react and practice change on any level possible. The time is to demonstrate that the toxic fast-food culture, the culture of convenience, was a mistake. This way of life is no longer tenable.
This is not about borders anymore. This is about individuals and multi-nationals influencing climate change. It is about industry squashing third world cultures and decimating land. Dramatic change is the only way to alter the system from the inside out.
03/31/08 » 4:37 am »
rape victims beg to differ
03/31/08 » 7:09 pm »
Look okay everyone this article is a bag of crap….For the noob who commented on the OXYGEN comment…..Ethanol when combusted creates CO2 and H20 …the CO2 is then used by the cultivation and turned back into Oxygen…you nooblets need to learn some chemistry….The amount of CO2 burnt from the Ethanol is much less than that of Octane. Brazil’s research into ethanol has provided more contributions to Ethanol technologies than any other source.
TO the dickhead who posted this article(Not even an article a link!) your a wana be environmental journalist grow some brains and look furthur into what your writing about…
03/31/08 » 8:20 pm »
Matthew, you must work for an ethanol or biofuels creator, unless you may be guilty of not reading the article….I’ve actually been an environmental journalist for 8 years (go ahead, google me!) and have a bachelor of science degree in environmental geology with a minor in biology, and while I didn’t write this article, everything I’ve seen backs up this research and information. Yes, growing corn or soy and using it for fuel is carbon neutral….but only if you don’t take into account the massive amounts of petrochemicals required to clear land, plant and harvest the crops, create, distribute and apply pesticides and herbicides (which concurrently poison water supplies). Even Richard Branson, who has every reason in the world to support ethanol and biofuels production knows that it’s not the way to go! Beyond ALL that, ripping down a rainforest to plant a bunch of soy crops to power a minivan to soccer practice (no matter how carbon neutral) does more harm than good- that’s just plain stupid short-sightedness.
03/31/08 » 11:57 pm »
Not only that but you have to take more into account than just chemical changes from the combustion and the forest being destroyed. The habitat will change, species will die, and in will change in a small or large way the biosphere in which we all live. Biologically speaking destruction of any type of ecosystem can lead to unforseen consequences, regardless of what chemical changes will occur. Sadly every country has done pretty much the same thing in their own way, so while we may try to stop them all they have to do is point it back at us and say you did it why can’t we? And the comment about bombing them…stupid idea…that causes an extreme amount of harm as well, and plus it will start a war and continue to screw the world up even more.
Honestly the best solution would be to first lessen the demand for gasoline and ethynol and then figure out a better solution that doesn’t cause a third world country to cut down a vital natural resource in order to maintain a competitive economy. Of course that will never happen because people always expect they don’t make enough difference and that everyone else should do it rather than them.
09/12/08 » 5:58 pm »
Sadly this is happening all over the World and we are rapidly heading for disaster.
As our politicians junket from one talkfest to another very little is achieved as the pressures upon our environment mount.
We have to collectively become more proactive and organised. The Internet is the vehicle to achieve that and we must use it to the fullest extent. Sitting on the sidelines wringing our hands will achieve nothing we have to act in unison. It’s our only hope!
09/14/08 » 3:50 am »
Cutting down rain forests for bio fuels etc will produce a lack of food as that soil is not suitable for cultivation, probably change the rain fall pattern , add to global warming from slash and burn and reduce the food available when soil degrade . There is countless research to show this. We need to find a way that countries and their companies can have sustainable forest growth with trees replaced and also grown for food[nuts ] and look to solar power to replace existing energy sources. We have been given a planet that is overflowing with resources if only we have eyes to see
10/29/08 » 6:27 am »