Dear XXX ...I received this personal ("
Dear XXX" ??) email this morning and thought I ought to share it with you, especially as I "seem to" deal with this country.
This little phrase got me pondering just what it is that I do 'seem to' do, but then, hey, I do agree with the central message ~ bio-fuels may well f**k up the planet faster than fossil fuels ever did.
I admit that I haven't watched the video and you might not be able to either: a dial up connection with its exceedingly narrow bandwidth or the excessive numbers of subscribers for the appallingly serviced broadband in this country does not really allow multi-media presentations. On the other hand, the 70% of my visitors who don't live here may well have an interesting viewing experience.
.....................................................Dear XXX
I am contacting you to share this video created by Greenpeace regarding Bio-fuels and their potential detrimental effect of increased deforestation in Indonesia.
As your site seems to deal with the country and reaches people who might be interested in this information, I was wondering if the video content would be of relevance to you and your site.
I am one of many people trying to get some exposure for this campaign and spread the word about the issues surrounding bio-fuels that people, even your perhaps more informed site visitors, might not know. This is a video I think they and everyone else should at least watch and be aware of the message it contains. Green economics, politics and practices are becoming increasingly complex and tied into business.
What people are doing that they think IS green might really be making things much worse. It's important for people to know they donʼt have to preach, take sides or chain themselves to the nearest shrub! Just be informed and help make others.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all. If you do choose to help please just drop me an email so I mention your good work to others.
Thank you
Andrew Hunter
(The campaign also has some web links here and here.)
.....................................................
Those without access to YouTube would do well to read
this article by George Monbiot.
Oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose.
Since the beginning of last year, the price of maize has doubled. The price of wheat has also reached a 10-year high, while global stockpiles of both grains have reached 25-year lows. According to the UN food and agriculture organisation, the main reason is the demand for ethanol: the alcohol used for motor fuel, which can be made from maize and wheat.
The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022. Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn't happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market. This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.
Alice Friedemann adds further fuel to the contention that biofuels are a very bad alternative in
a well-researched and very detailed report.
Ethanol is an agribusiness get-rich-quick scheme that will bankrupt our topsoil. Loss of topsoil has been a major factor in the fall of civilizations. You end up with a country like Iraq, formerly Mesopotamia, where 75% of the farm land became a salty desert."
We stand, in most places on earth, only six inches from desolation, for that is the thickness of the topsoil layer upon which the entire life of the planet depends"
Labels: biofuels
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