Almost nothing is more stupid than chopping down trees and feeding them to power plants for electricity. It hurts biodiversity, belches toxic chemicals and contributes more to climate change than coal -- all while masquerading as a source of clean “renewable” energy.
Unfortunately, the whole misbegotten enterprise of generating electricity from wood biomass could be getting a boost thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule regulating power plants.
Bending the rule?
The main thing about…
When Friends of the Earth detailed the abuses and illegal actions of the Indonesian palm oil company Bumitama Agri in our report, Commodity Crimes last November, it set in motion a discussion in which the company made a number of promises to improve its practices. The report and its allegations also contributed to the pressure that led Wilmar International, the largest purchaser of Bumitama’s oil, to make its historic No Deforestation, No Peat,…
In a press release issued yesterday by Friends of the Earth International, we asked for cancellation of a World Bank loan to Honduran palm oil producer Grupo Dinant. Here's why:
Science and social movements agree: Palm oil expansion is bad for people and bad for the planet
Just a few years ago, palm oil entered the spotlight as one of the best and brightest options for a “drop-in” biofuel feedstock (a type of biofuel that can be “dropped into” existing transportation infrastructure) to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, cut back on climate emissions, and bring economic development to marginal lands in developing countries. But a…
In November, the EPA will make a decision that could mitigate the higher food prices and job losses we're seeing across the country and abroad right now thanks to our federal biofuels mandate–the Renewable Fuel Standard. In August, eight states and more that 150 members of Congress asked the EPA to lower the mandate because it diverts almost half the corn grown in the U.S. for ethanol—a fuel that the EPA’s own…
When Congress established the Renewable Fuel Standard –our federal biofuels mandate – they probably weren’t hoping to incentivize invasive species, choke rivers, or increase wildfires. But, if the EPA approves giant reed (Arundo donax) as a so-called “advanced” biofuel that’s exactly what will happen. EPA will likely make a determination about giant reed in the next couple of weeks.
The EPA is currently in the final stages of approving giant reed for use under…
Today a bipartisan group of 26 senators urged EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to use her authority to reduce the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
With record droughts spreading across the country, corn harvests are shrinking and food prices are spiking. In 2012 the RFS requires the use of 13.2 billion gallons of corn ethanol as transportation fuel, meaning that almost half the corn in the U.S. will be used for…
If you haven't noticed from the frostbite-inducing air conditioning in your office yet, it's been hot this summer. Really really hot--and dry. In fact, more than half of the counties in the country have now been labeled "disaster areas" by the Department of Agriculture. James Hansen, a leading scientist for NASA, along with lots of other scientists, are saying these crazy temperatures and massive droughts are due to anthropogenic climate…
As the drought continues to wreak havoc on our corn crops, the Renewable Fuel Standard – our federal mandate for corn ethanol and other biofuels – has come under fire. Due to the mandate, we’re currently using 40% of our corn in the U.S. for fuel instead of food. Today, the USDA designated more than half the counties in the country as natural disaster areas, and with corn yields plummeting, food…
This past Tuesday, Steven Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report discussed how the current drought -- the worst in 50 years-- will raise food prices around the country and destabilize the corn ethanol market. Colbert and his guest, Iowa State professor Bruce Babcock, highlighted that because corn is such a huge source of animal feed, when corn prices go up, so do the prices of dairy, eggs, meat, and poultry at…