Corn/Oil

President Bush flew to Brazil in March, checking up on ethanol exports that will complement his plan to up U.S. biofuel production to 35 billion gallons a year. Brazilian activists aren't so enthusiastic, reports Earth First! magazine. Upon Dubya’s arrival, 900 women took over a Cargill ethanol plant in the Ribeirão Preto region. The protesters argue that ethanol production means clearing the Amazon rainforest to make room for monoculture farming, running fuel-thirsty equipment to cultivate the corn, spraying toxic pesticides to raise the corn, and burning more fossil fuels to distill it—ultimately using three units of energy for every four created. Increased corn production for biofuel has also raised the price of corn, resulting in tens of thousands rallying in the streets of Mexico to protest increased prices of tortillas (see "Supply, Demand, and Tortillas" in our Spring 2007 issue).

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to Dollars & Sense.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.