Why Biofuels Are the Rainforest's Worst Enemy

In my post below this one, I should have added one more thing to my statement on 'using human food sources for biofuels." It is not just turning human food sources into biofuels that is egregious (in my humble opinion), but that growing biomass on agriculturally viable land (whether it be fertile farmland or acres of rain forest) is troublesome. Any threat to food supplies or biodiversity is problematic (and also shows that we do not take future generations into consideration).

This excellent reporting by Mother Jones magazine on the rush to grow oil palms (good for creating biodiesel, apparently) on diverse rain forest land is particularly troublesome. The rush to find cheaper fuel is clouded with the myopia of short-term profits. Third world nations, with the help of their governments, are rushing to grow palm trees on rain forest land. If the rain forests die, we die. It is really that simple.

The second-generation biofuels that I am talking about are the algaes that can be grown in tanks in the desert. That is the type of biofuel that we can generate with somewhat of a clear conscience and an eye toward the future. I wonder when we are going to stop this nonsense of short-term thinking and greed.