Do we really want to know that some folks are starving so we can clear our consciences over using fossil fuels?
A few years ago I attended regular meetings with a group of people who
called themselves the Clean Fuels Coalition. At that time, we thought
that we had found the perfect answer to global warming, acid rain and
Peak Oil. Well, maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was awfully close.
I
remember of that one of my board members of the group I headed at the
time remarked that he was concerned that by using corn and soy beans
for ethanol and biodiesel we would have less grains and protein
available to feed hungry people.
Aw, that would never happen
surely, I thought. And when this was brought up to those who knew more
than I did about bio-fuels, they said that there was no need to worry.
For example, when the oil was taken from the soybeans, the protein was
still left to feed the hungry people. And gosh, farmers were already
raising more corn than they could use or sell. Making corn into ethanol
would help farmers and there would always be plenty of corn.
Now
in 2008, no less than three years after the discussions described
above, we hear about riots happening throughout the world because
people are hungry and of course, not getting enough food to satisfy
that hunger.
I don't know about you, but I feel kind of guilty
about this. We are perhaps delaying Peak Oil by blending bio-fuels into
diesel and gasoline, but in the process, we are taking precious food
from so-called developing countries.
Boston Globe Columnist John Carroll a few months ago wrote the following:
".......at
an emergency summit meeting in London, a UN official described a
present global food shortage as a “silent tsunami,” affecting millions
of people in dozens of nations. As if out of nowhere, a world-historic
crisis has arisen.
In recent months, there have been food riots in such diverse places as
Haiti, Cairo, Cameroon, Senegal, and Bangladesh. In Mexico, people
speak of the “tortilla crisis,” as the skyrocketing price of corn has
made that staple too expensive. In the last two months, the price of
rice has doubled in world markets. Store shelves across the southern
hemisphere are empty, and foodstuffs in many places are being severely
rationed.
Economists define a general spike in commodity prices
as the sharpest in 30 years. Without notice, the situation of hundreds
of millions of chronically hungry people has become acute. The United
Nations warns that 20 million children are at immediate risk of
starvation.This dramatic reversal of hopes that world hunger was being
overcome is a result of what a Salvadoran official called “a perfect
storm” combination of factors: bad weather, decline in agricultural
investment by governments, rising “protein” demands of large
populations in India and China, fertilizer shortages, and, especially,
the higher price of oil.
Ironically, the transfer of countless
acres of farmland from the growing of food to the production of
bio-fuels is a particular culprit."
I don't know about
you, but the above information does not give me comfort. Our stores
still have plenty of food, although I understand that food prices have
gone up. Nevertheless, we still have lots of fat people here, and the haves' lifestyle has not changed one iota.
Most
of us, if we don't read (which many of us don't if we can help it),
wouldn't even know that the countries mentioned above are having to
deal with hungry people. Meanwhile, we complain about higher prices at
the pump and are willing to do about anything we can to be sure that
our gas tanks are fed regularly, no matter what the cost.
So
what should people do who really do care about the so-called "perfect
storm" that is causing babies to die elsewhere in our world, and to be
malnourished in our own?
For one thing, we must drive less,
period. We must put pressure on our government to go into our
storehouses and put whatever food is in them into bellies of starving
people, no matter what the cost. And we must direct our farmers to grow
crops for food, not fuel.
We must promote family planning
throughout the world, starting at our own doorsteps. And we must
support land reform so families can grow their own food around the
globe.
Please join in the efforts to feed hungry people on the agendas of all world governments and the United Nations this year.
What
would we do if those starving kids were our own grandchildren? The
thought is completely repulsive to me. And it should be, because
somewhere someone else's grandchild is now close to death.....or
already dead....because of starvation.
Not only are biofuels inequitable (a euphemism for some people starving), but they don't deliver net energy.
According to energy investment banker Matthew Simmons and most independent analysts, global oil production is now declining, from 74 million barrels per day to 60 million barrels per day by 2015. During the same time demand will increase 14%.
This is equivalent to a 33% drop in 7 years. No one can reverse this trend, nor can we conserve our way out of this catastrophe. Because the demand for oil is so high, it will always be higher than production; thus the depletion rate will continue until all recoverable oil is extracted.
Alternatives will not even begin to fill the gap. And most alternatives yield electric power, but we need liquid fuels for tractors/combines, 18 wheel trucks, trains, ships, and mining equipment.
We are facing the collapse of the highways that depend on diesel trucks for maintenance of bridges, cleaning culverts to avoid road washouts, snow plowing, roadbed and surface repair. When the highways fail, so will the power grid, as highways carry the parts, transformers, steel for pylons, and high tension cables, all from far away. With the highways out, there will be no food coming in from "outside," and without the power grid virtually nothing works, including home heating, pumping of gasoline and diesel, airports, communications, and automated systems.
This is documented in a free 48 page report that can be downloaded, website posted, distributed, and emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html
I used to live in NH-USA, but moved to a sustainable place. Anyone interested in relocating to a nice, pretty, sustainable area with a good climate and good soil? Email: clifford dot wirth at yahoo dot com or give me a phone call which operates here as my old USA-NH number 603-668-4207.
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