Resource Wars or Resolution?
Could the grab for biofuels be the start of resource wars, pitting scientists against farmers who for the first time in their lives are no longer “dirt” poor?” Around the world, farmland, tropical forests, grasslands and peatlands are being cleared for biofuels crops, and farmers are starting to put money in their own pockets.
Cash in the pocket means more to most farmers than the global warming impact of their collective actions. In responding to the urgent global need for alternatives to fossil fuels, these farmers got caught in the middle of a firestorm.
In response to need, these farmers did what they know best: grow things. They were encouraged to invest their time and energy into growing biofuels crops by corporations, government agencies, and news media because only a year ago biofuels was the next BIG thing.
It’s not. Now, two studies published in the journal Science last week have reinforced the urgency of moving quickly to a second generation of biofuels. The two studies, one produced by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, and the other by researchers from Princeton University, found that biofuels can actually produce more carbon dioxide emissions than they save—if they force natural habitats to be converted to cropland, releasing the carbon contained in trees and grasses and in the soil they grow on.
According to the WorldWatch Institute: clearing land for biofuel crops—especially when it involves the loss of forests, peatlands, and grasslands that are nature’s premier method of carbon capture—is a bad idea. The reason is clear: the world’s forests and grasslands contain an enormous reservoir of carbon, which will add to greenhouse warming if it’s released to the atmosphere. Even switchgrass, if grown on land now being grown to produce corn, could increase emissions by 50 percent if it forces the clearing of new land to grow food.
The larger problem, of course, is a human problem. Farmers are making money growing biofuels crops; corporations investing in biofuels are making a lot of money.
However, trying to change human behavior once lifestyles start to improve involves a lot more than explaining the urgency of the problem.
Governments need to act swiftly to ban the clearing of forest, peat and farm land where the use of biofuels is for export. The shortcut solution is to pay farmers NOT to grow biofuels except for LOCAL use.
Will government staff recommend this solution? Only if they understand the urgency of the problem. And only if they are willing to go beyond their own job security and paycheck, to put into effect actions that benefit the entire planet.