Friday, April 11, 2008

April Biofool's Day is fast approaching!

From this Tuesday (15th April) all UK forecourts will be required by law to sell only fuel which is blended with 2.5% biofuel. This will have devastating consequences on climate, carbon sinks, food prices and human rights, with people being violently evicted from their land. EU targets are set to increase to 10% by 2020.

"The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed
one person for a year "
Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute

Please come and join to protest against biofuels and the new law (the RTFO). There will be protests all around the UK on the same day!

Tuesday 15th April
12.30-2.30
BP station in Bruntsfield (BP are big investors in biofuels).


If you like, dress as a tree to be deforested or an April (bio)fool! Bring along drums and instruments. Please contact me if you want to discuss any of this or you would like an information sheet of key messages to get across.

Hope to see you on Tuesday, Julia : 07846939059


What's wrong with agrofuels (biofuels)?

Deforestation, peatland destruction and nitrogen fertiliser use mean that agrofuels are actually worse for the climate than fossil fuel. Paul Crutzen (nobel prize-winner) suggests that rapeseed biodiesel is up to 70% worse for climate change than ordinary fossil diesel (even though it's grown in the UK so involves no deforestation or peatland destruction) due to nitrous oxide emissions from nitrogen fertiliser which is a 300x more damaging greenhouse gas than CO2.
In the global South people are being evicted from their lands to make way for agrofuel plantations, often violently with deaths and human rights abuses taking place. In Argentina 200,000 families and in Paraguay 100,000 families have been evicted due to soya expansion. These are just 2 examples but this is happening on a wide scale in South-east Asia, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Colombia and the list goes on.

Food prices are soaring as a result of agrofuels. According to Jean Ziegler (until recently the UN special rapporteur on the right to food) there are 12 million more people going hungry now than a year ago due to rising food prices, something which agrofuels are a big contributer to.
Instead we need to dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, live more locally and improve public transport.

For more info on biofuels visit: www.biofuelwatch.org.uk

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