Granma Muses 2

Castro breaks editorial silence to berate U.S. over biofuels policy

Say you're a legendary communist leader sidelined by a secret illness. You're eager to break your months-long silence with an editorial, and you're looking for just the right topic. Do you choose ... your prognosis? Your island nation's health? Heck no. If you're Fidel Castro, you choose the U.S. infatuation with biofuels. An article printed today in the Communist Party daily Granma (not to be confused with the weekly Granpa) hints at Castro's views on ethanol and economics under the headline "More than 3 billion people of the world condemned to premature death by hunger and thirst." The recovering revolutionary says he's been "meditating quite a bit since President Bush's meeting with North American automobile makers" and slams the "sinister idea of converting food into combustibles." Instead, he says, countries should follow Cuba's lead and ... switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs! That, he says, "would give climate change a break without starving the poor masses of the world."

source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 29 Mar 2007

source: Jurnalo, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 29 Mar 2007

source: BBC News, 29 Mar 2007

see also, in Gristmill: Corn-based ethanol: the biggest greenwash ever?

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  1. marylounoble Posted 3:16 pm
    29 Mar 2007

    Biofuels and Fluorescent Light BulbsIt doesn't seem that Fidel Castro's concerns about growing corn for the production of ethanol are that far off base. There are legitimate resons to question the ethics of reducing the world's food supply and the adverse environmental effects of producing substantially greater quantities of corn. Additionally, there are potentially grave consequences surrounding the production of GM corn.
    I am in complete agreement with Casto's suggestion that switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs would save a tremendous amount of energy.  The United Kingdom is moving in that direction along with at least one city in Australia.  Shouldn't the United States be pursuing such a change?  I use these bulbs throughout my house wherever I can, although some of my receptacles will not accept these bulbs.  Does anyone know why?
    Marylou Noble

    Portland, OR

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  2. rebkalin Posted 4:49 am
    02 Apr 2007

    Biodiesel fuel and food supplyMarylou Noble's comments are right on. Re: corn-based biodiesel fuel and impact on food supply (and nitrogen depletion of soil).  The food vs. fuel problem is real, but can be sidestepped completely with cellulosic ethanol that relies on a variety of biomass materials such as willow bush, grass, wood chips, etc.
    Check it out:

    http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20051001/bob10.asp
    Rebecca Kalin

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