Food Fight: "Perfect Storm" Brewing
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.12.08
The worldwide food crisis deepens, and it isn't just ethanol; drought in Australia, greater demand for meat, futures traders going long, cost of fuel for transport and fertilizer, it is all adding up.
'Perfect storm' brewing for food riots, UN warns The recent outbreak of food riots is a warning sign that rising food prices could cause unrest and instability across the world, the UN's top humanitarian official said yesterday. Combined with the negative impact of climate change and soaring fuel prices, a "perfect storm" is brewing for much of the world's population, said John Holmes, the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator. ::Associated Press
Biofuels go from saviour to villain: Four years ago, Dennis Avery warned that, as Western governments fell head over heels for biofuels, passing laws forcing consumers to buy them, "U.S. farmers, who should be exporting food to densely populated Asian countries with rising incomes, will instead turn their corn into ethanol . . . without benefit to the environment." ::National Post
See also: Biofuels as Help or Hindrance, Chinese Biofuel Push Could Devastate Remaining Forests, More Bad News about Biofuels: Land-Use Concerns Nix Benefits
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Cambodia’s First Ethanol Plant Will Use One-Fifth of Nation's Cassava Crop
- US Farmer’s Incomes Now Tied More to Ethanol Than Food, Economist Says
- Ethanol Industry Still Dodging Blame For Role In Global Food Crisis
- 40 Corn Ethanol Plants Could File For Bankruptcy by Early 2009
If everyone on the planet gets a car its not going to work. Different animal species have over populated in the passed and were paired back. I really can't see how we will be much different. Since there is no grass roots and political will for population control.
If everyone on the planet gets a car its not going to work. Different animal species have over populated in the passed and were paired back. I really can't see how we will be much different. Since there is no grass roots and political will for population control.
How come no one talks about population levels? Don't we need to be talking about the fact the planet has too many people on it as part of the food crisis discussion? The global warming crisis? The water crisis? Certainly it isn't an immediate fix, but it sure has implications for longterm viability for the human race!