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Written by Jonathan Maslow
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
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A couple months back I wrote a post on the moral obligation rich countries have to help poor, vulnerable countries meet the challenges of global warming. I was talking then about helping poor countries mitigate the worst effects of flooding, droughts and cyclones. Today, a Reuters Alertnet report from South Africa adds a new dimension to that point. In the effort to create biofuels from staple food crops like maize and sugar, South Africa has set off a “highly unequal” competition between the poor wanting to get enough to eat and the rich wanting to fill their car tanks.
The report says the price of maize and sugar increased substantially in 2006, but mostly because of the higher costs of energy and the end of surpluses on world markets, as the biofuels movement soaks up food crops. Now, however, a plan to construct eight new ethanol plants in the Orange Free State Province, taking place in the context of the worst drought in 40 years, will mean that African stomachs will remain empty to fill up SUVs.
The debate on global warming and what to do about can take on a surreal quality, with Bollywood starlets and Rock Star-level political celebrities jetting round the world giving speeches and press conferences. The competition for biofuels brings the issue back to Earth. At the basis of our actions to halt destruction of the environment must be the universal principle of equality of all peoples. We in the rich nations mustn’t steal the bread from the mouths of the poor to offset our pollution.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 31 May 2007 )
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