Biofuels Have Pushed 30 Million into Poverty: Oxfam
June 25, 2008
Back to News Home
A new report released by Oxfam has blamed the use of biofuels for pushing 30 million people around the world into poverty, while doing very little to fight global warming.
Biofuels have been adopted in many rich countries as an alternative to traditional gasoline in an effort to cut their carbon footprint. Many rich countries, including America, offer generous subsidies to farmers that grow the crops use in biofuels.
The report said that the use of food crops for fuel was a contributing factor to the worldwide food shortage. The report also said that biofuels will do nothing to combat global warming.
Current biofuel technology varies a great deal around the world. For example, biofuels in the US are made primarily from corn, which is not nearly as efficient as the biofuels made from sugarcane in Brazil. Barack Obama has pledged his support for cellulosic ethanol, which would make biofuels from non-food crops.
After the recent summit in Egypt to discuss the food shortage, biofuels have come under increasing fire for their impact on the world’s poor. However, there are viable arguments on both sides of the aisle. Some claim that growing crops for biofuels offers poor countries the chance to raise a valuable export and so grow their economy.
However, the current impact on food prices is a more immediate threat than global warming. One UN adviser even called the use of biofuels a “crime against humanity.”
Share This Story: |