Bush's bio-fuel bull

IN HIS state of the union speech, US president George Bush outlined a ten-year strategy for tacking climate change. However, there was not a scintilla of embarrassment from the oil man, having spent most of his time in the White House denying any causal link between burning fossil fuels and climate change.

The key to Bush's plan is to reduce US petrol use by 20% by 2017, substituting corn-based biofuels. This will still result in greenhouse gas emissions but supporters of biofuels say that it's carbon neutral because growing the plants acts as a carbon sink.

However, the drive for profits from biofuels is leading to a land-grab, pushing agribusiness deeper into rainforests and swallowing up farmland much needed for food.

Last week over 75,000 people on low incomes marched through Mexico City angry at the doubling of tortilla prices. The price of this basic Mexican staple, made from maize, has soared as US exports of corn to Mexico have declined. This is because 20% of US corn production is now ringfenced to produce biofuels.

Biofuels could play a valuable role as part of a socialist policy, but as New Scientist pointed out: "Right now, the potential gains from biofuels lie mainly in corporate balance sheets. Perhaps Bush's policy hasn't changed that much after all."