American Blog

Bush greeted in Brazil with protests, pushing biofuel agreement
by Chris in Paris · 3/09/2007 05:55:00 AM ET
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Is buying limited supplies of ethanol from Brazil really the answer to the problem? I can appreciate the interest of Petrobras executives to sell their product to the US, who have deeper pockets than Brazilian consumers, but what does that mean to Brazilians? Then there is the problem of promoting agriculture for biofuel production across Latin America, which large landowners might see as a new financial opportunity, but then what about growing crops for actual human consumption? Is it better to have a cheap day at the pump for Americans or have food on the table for people in the developing world?

The problem always comes back to a need for more efficiency standards and alternative energies that deliver a net positive. This, of course, raises the issue of going against Big Oil and their lobbyists, who would rather stay the course, pay lip service and drag their feet, blocking change. Bush is never going to go against Big Oil so it's up to the Democrats to push this issue and focus on the real issue instead of distractions like ethanol from Brazil.