Jun 03 2008
The UN wants to have its cake and eat it, too - literally
“UN official holds rich nations accountable for food shortages” http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/03/europe/food.php. “criticized policies like those in the United States that subsidize growing crops for energy.”
Isn’t this the same United Nations who wants to move from fossil fuels to “alternative energy” sources?
I hate to break it to you, but you can’t invest in biofuels and keep making food, too, if you want to make ethanol from corn. “Nobody understands how $11- to $12-billion-dollar-a-year subsidies in 2006 and protective tariff policies have the effect of diverting 100 million tons of cereals from human consumption, mostly to satisfy the thirst for fuel for vehicles.”
Personally, I want to see industry focus on cellulose-based ethanol production, because then you can ethanolify more-or-less anything that grows.
Turning corn into ethanol is horribly inefficient.
But that’s beside the point: you have a choice. You can grow food, or you can grow “fuel”.
Take your pick.