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If the President you trust, your elected official handed you a silver spoon with chocolate in it, but you found out later it was actually pudding mixed with feces. What would you do? Politics are messy and so are the lies often fed to us by our officials to justify certain legislative policies regarding price gouging of; mortgages, real estate, gas, oil and even food.
Food, water and air, something all humans cannot live without. The question is, does any world government, financial institution or corporation have the right to monopolize or privatize these three things essential to our survival as a global human family?
On July 4th, the Guardian reported that a "secret" study, by World Bank senior economist Don Mitchell concluded that the recent explosion in biofuels use has driven global food prices up by 75 percent, a number much higher than estimates from other 'major sources.'
The USDA being one of these other 'sources' just so happens to provide President Bush overwhelming support for crop-based fuels, claiming biofuels account for only 3 percent of recent food price hikes. Lies. Lies. Lies.
The World Bank report, although finished in April, was suppressed until the British newspaper got hold of a leaked copy. Sources from senior development say the report was not published to avoid embarrassing good ole' President Bush because the report would "put the World Bank in a political hot spot with the White House." So the solution, was to hide the World Bank report from the public.
Only the Guardian can speak of what is in the World Bank report until it is released to the public but claims the report, "Argues that production of biofuels has distorted food markets in three main ways. First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel. Second, farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for biofuel production. Third, it has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher."
The report does not inform the World Bank of a history lesson regarding biofuels. After the Revolutionary War, biofuels were used to support industry and the eastern United States was heavily deforested. By the mid 1800s, when our population was smaller, coal became the dominant fuel because the biofuel economy had been overextended and depleted. In order to support a fraction of our current consumption from biofuel it would require ALL the food, paper and building material harvested from the earths forests. Every forest around the world, as far as the eye could see would be left a barren wasteland. Every tree and every piece of grain would be consumed to fuel our cars and light our homes. Without trees there is no oxygen, without oxygen we cannot breathe and our survival as humans is dependent on the survival of forests. The trees surrounding you and your community are valuable, do not take their conservation for granted for the forests around you are in danger of being destroyed to meet the pending energy crisis. You will bare witness to wealthier nations in the coming decades destroying populations of people and forests to take land for the sake of biofuel production.
Biofuel cannot support our current population or rate of energy consumption. Biofuel produced to support our modern conveniences comes at the expense of global food production, forest destruction and species extinction. Ethanol, made from corn requires 10.4 acres of land to fuel one car for a year. And the grain needed to fuel one SUV for a year could feed 26 people. Americans consume 40% more energy and gas than any other country. Our driving and purchasing habits matter and weigh heavily on the lives of innocent people as our energy consumption drives up the cost of food around the world at lightening speeds. Over 100 million people have been forced under the poverty line worldwide by the recent spike in food prices. Try to keep in mind when you are cruising down the highway, every gallon of gas burned, means more people will starve to death and more trees will be destroyed to maintain your modern way of life. Also keep in mind, that epidemic disease is always linked to hunger. During the 1300's the Black Death of Europe, in which a third of the population of the continent died was the result of widespread malnutrition that weakened the immunity of the population. Malnutrition which began through deforestation, a result of growing populations which consumed their natural resources and lead to a lack of available food. Just as biofuel will consume all the worlds grain, impoverishing millions and causing us to mortgage our home for a loaf of bread, or a bowl of rice. Well, that is also dependent on if there are any trees left to build a house. We could always live in our cars. Ooo, comfy Hummer hybrid car house.
Luckily, we still have time to find alternative modes of transportation; Car pool, ride the bus, pull out the dusty bicycle in the garage or even walk. Get your family involved in fresh air and healthy excercise. One way or another we will be forced to change our un-eco-friendly living and purchasing habits whether it be through; lack of food, lack of oxygen or abundance of disease.
Life is much more valuable than gasoline or the Automobile, an invention twelve years short of it's 100th birthday. I would rather see a car in a museum, than the memory of 'humans' in a museum any day. When the World Bank has financial interest in the increasing cost of biofuel versus cost of food spike, pay close attention. It is not conincidental that financial speculators started bidding up the price of grains and soybeans two years ago because they knew the U.S. and European governments were insuring a steady and rising, market for those goods in the years ahead.
Which is a corrupt and good enough reason for all of us to ride a bike or walk in protest.
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Corn has become the "cash" crop for American farmers, displacing many traditional crops.