GM Biofuels: Another Planned Disaster

By Rady Ananda

05 May, 2010
Countercurrents.org



Governments around the world have proposed biofuels, liquid fuels derived from plants, fungi or algae, as a solution to today's energy and environmental crises. But this alternative is as bad as, or worse, than fossil fuels.

Reasons to reject biofuels include:

• Loss of farmland for fuel land, increasing food prices and world hunger;
• Deforestation and conversion of prairie to cropland, causing a net increase in greenhouse gases;
• Increased reliance on eco-destructive pesticides; and
• Proliferation of dangerous genetically modified crops.

ActionAid , I-SIS , and  others , have produced in-depth reports linking biofuels to increased food prices, increased greenhouse gases thru land use changes, and loss of income for local communities.  

 

These reasons alone are sufficient to deem biofuels a poor alternative to fossil fuels. However, the last two bulleted items raise more grave concerns.

 

Genetically modified corn, cane, wheat, beet, and oil seeds like soy, rapeseed, and palm oil (among other biota) are used to produce biofuels. They require “intensive” chemical inputs with far-ranging consequences for humans, Earth's pollinators, and for the environment.

 

GM crops have been linked to organ damage  and reproductive failure  in mammals, and  sudden death in plants. They are also linked to the catastrophic bee die-off occurring in the US and elsewhere .

 

GM crops contaminate natural species, destroy biodiversity and bankrupt farmers who then cannot sell to a No-GMO market . Biotech giants admit they cannot prevent contamination of natural fields.


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