I just received a new piece from I-SIS, The Institute of Science in Society, by the director, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, ISIS Press Release 28/02/06, titled "Biofuels for Oil Addicts - Cure Worse than The Addiction", saying much the same thing as Monbiot et al.
"Bioethanol and biodiesel from energy crops compete for land that grows food and return less energy than the fossil fuel energy squandered in producing them; they are also damaging to the environment and disastrous for the economy." The article is here: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BFOA.php Mae-Wan Ho is not a dumbo nor an industry shill and I-SIS does good work. I just wrote to her pointing her to the same resources at JtF that I just pointed us at in my previous post. Who knows what comes of it, if anything. Best Keith >Hello Julian, Mike and all > >>You really should just ignore George Mombiot. He's just a silly little >>man full of his own importance and always has been. > >Well, not really. > >>He likes to provide an opinion on everything from the environment, >>biofuels, class structure, etc and I am yet to find anyone that agrees >>with his opinions. > >You haven't looked very hard then. But indeed, yes, his opinions. It >wasn't always that way with him, poor old George is passed his >use-by date these days, young feller like him too. As Todd said >before, he's lost something over the years. He started off well >though, good work, but I guess it went to his head, these days he >just seems to pontificate. I wonder when he last got off his butt >and investigated something properly, actually did some research, >wore out a bit of shoe leather. > >Anyway, Monbiot's just being a mug, he's not a liar or a >spin-merchant, and he's not the only mug. We've had these stories >before from him, since end-2004, and from indymedia, as Kenji >pointed out, and from New Scientist, who certainly should know >better, and others, and duly debunked them all. But who's doing the >spinning? That there's spinning being done is beyond doubt, it's >even had arch-spinmeister Alex Avery of the Hudson Institute >weighing in on the same issue. But Avery's not generating it. > >At least in Pimentel's case why he keeps doing it became a little >clearer when he teamed up last year with oilman Tad Patzek and the >pair of them slagged biodiesel as well as Pimentel's usual bash at >ethanol, using the same old bent numbers he knows are bent but he >keeps on doing it anyway. Other people are also impressed with the >publicity machine that gets Pimentel's work so widely published and >commented on, and wonder just who's funding it, as we've wondered >here. It's very slick. > >One thing that's slick about it is the confusions it plays on, such >as the overpopulation myth, the myth that US grain crops feed the >world, the myth that higher yields will help feed the hungry, the >highly dangerous myth that vegetarian (or vegan) farming is >sustainable and animal husbandry isn't. It all plays on people's >emotions, and people believe what they want to believe. > >>What surprises me is that there are Editors out there willing to >>publish his drivel. > >There'll be just as many educated and intelligent people who'll say >that about reporting you think is as solid as a rock. > >I'd certainly be willing to publish this drivel - in fact I did, >it's both here and at JtF: > >"The truth, so effectively suppressed that it is now almost >impossible to believe, is that organic farming is the key to feeding >the world." -- "Biotech has bamboozled us all -- Studies suggest >that traditional farming methods are still the best", George >Monbiot, The Guardian, August 24, 2000: >http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4054683,00.html > >Good piece, well worth a read. > >I've often referred to this story, where Monbiot helped expose the >dirty tricks used by Monsanto's PR company, Bivings, in spinning the >GM maize scandal in Mexico, see: "THE FAKE PERSUADERS - Corporations >are inventing people to rubbish their opponents on the internet, >says George Monbiot", The Guardian, 14 May 2002 >http://ngin.tripod.com/deceit4.html > >Monbiot did good work on the plutonium trade with Japan, on nuclear >proliferation, corporate malfeasance, climate change, the bizarre >role of America's Christian fundamentalist pre-millennial >dispensationalist nutters (Bill Moyers called Monbiot's piece >"brilliant"), foreign aid, peak oil, Iraq, more. > >This was the first anti-biofuel article Monbiot wrote, in Nov 2004 >(long discussion in the list archives): > >Fuel for nought - The adoption of biofuels would be a humanitarian >and environmental disaster, George Monbiot, Tuesday November 23, >2004, The Guardian >http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/2004/Bio-Fuel-For-Nought8dec04.htm > >Followed by the others Mike noted, all discussed here at the time. > >In the light of which, this one about global warming raised my eyebrows: > >"It Would Seem That I Was Wrong About Big Business - Corporations >are ready to act on global warming but are thwarted by ministers who >resist regulation in the name of the market", George Monbiot, >September 20, 2005,Guardian/UK >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg55760.html > >Huh? Some interesting stuff in there, which was mainly why I posted >it, but this is a sharp change of tack for Monbiot. It's a change of >stance not reflected by any of the other corporate watchdogs, not in >any way, corporations didn't suddenly get nicer. > >Well, who knows why he's blind-eyeing so much stuff he should know, >or does know. It's a mistake to ignore him though, as with Pimentel. >In both cases there's a danger in countering it of appearing to >defend the likes of ADM and Big Ethanol / Big Corn / Big Soy / Big >Ag, and also the foolishness of large-scale industrial monocropping >of oil palms in 3rd World countries to supply distant markets in the >West and Japan. > >These are still the basic references I'd recommend for this, and for >this discussion too (along with previous discussions, especially on >the myths I referred to): > >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html#howmuch >"How much fuel can we grow? How much land will it take?" > >http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html >Is ethanol energy-efficient? (currently being updated but what's >there now is useful) > >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_food.html >Biofuels - Food or Fuel? > >http://journeytoforever.org/community.html >Community development > >http://journeytoforever.org/community2.html >Community development - poverty and hunger > >In terms of effect, which is why you'd be doing it, there's no way a >member of the public can compete with a reporter by writing a letter >to the editor, which is about the only open avenue. Even if they >actually publish it. The best way is to get access to the news pages >by working through other reporters, but that takes time and it's not >easy. Maybe the way to counter Monbiot might be to attack him in the >blogosphere. > >Best > >Keith > > > >>-- >>Regards, >> >>Julian _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
