Mexican President Says No To Biofuels Law
Mexican President Felipe Calderón recently vetoed a law meant to boost Mexico's biofuels sector, on the grounds it gives too much emphasis to corn and sugarcane production. According to Calderón, the law doesn't give enough attention to new technologies like seaweed, bacteria, enzyme and cellulose that could be more sustainable sources of biofuels.
The law was approved by Congress in April and has broad support from the agricultural industry in Mexico. Farmers responded to the veto by saying that Mexico will now have to import ethanol and pay more for it.
Corn and sugarcane-based ethanol have increasingly come under fire in the developing world out of fear that they will compromise world food security and push up international food prices. Mexico saw corn tortilla prices shoot up earlier this year, an indirect result of the increasing demand for corn-based ethanol in the United States. ::Via SciDev.net
