17 January 2008
MIRIAM: UNCHECKED BIOFUELS HARM ENVIRONMENT
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who will chair the new Biofuels Oversight Committee, warned that unregulated biofuel production can result in environmental destruction, pollution, and human health damage. “The oversight committee has to ensure that standards are set and enforced, on how the fuels are produced. Different biofuels have different levels of eco-friendliness. If we are smart, we should promote only the right biofuels,” she said. Santiago said that the New York Times on-line of 15 January 2008, reported that the European Union has drafted a law banning importation of some biofuels from crops grown in forests, wetlands, or grasslands. In the article “ Europe may ban importation of some biofuel crops,” James Kanter said: “But a flurry of studies has discredited some of the claims made by biofuel producers that the fuels have reduced greenhouse gases…Growing the crops and turning them into fuel can result in considerable environmental harm.” The senator said that the environmental warning was based on published studies of reputable scientific groups, including: Royal Society, the British national science academy; New Energy Finance at London ; Friends of the Earth; Renewable Fuels Association in Washington ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Washington; and Europe ’s Energy Commissioner. Santiago said her oversight committee will require biofuels to deliver a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings, with the minimum level to be determined by scientists, not politicians. The senator listed the potential dangers of unchecked biofuels farming, as follows:- Tempts farmers to cut down tropical rainforests;
- Uses tractors which consume diesel;
- Demands nitrogen fertilizer made with natural gas;
- Consumes huge amount of water;
- Encourages farmers to convert grasslands, which need to be preserved, into cornland for ethanol production;
- Encourages conversion of land to biofuel use although they contain high levels of biodiversity.