The Wanton Destruction of Rainforests by Biofuels
(as claimed by the discredited George Monbiot, Friends of the Earth and taken up by others)

A few simple facts.  Wherever it rains, there grows a rain forest. The trees and shrubbery grow mightily, absorbing both the rain and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, exuding oxygen as they do.  All of which helps to sustain life on this precious planet of ours, including the wildlife the exists in the forest.  That's the good bit.

Then the greenery reaches the end of its life and dies, falls to the ground and rots, releasing (wait for it) carbon dioxide and, feeding the global greenhouse even more effectively, methane.

A waste of space or not?

So, along comes a bunch of businessmen, who cut down the rain forest and plant palm trees.  Desecration or not?

In five to ten years, the plantation is producing an oliferous crop, able to be harvested and used in transport as a replacement for fossil oils (biodiesel), thereby preventing an awful lot of carbon emissions, whilst providing a cash crop and a lot of work for a lot of people in otherwise under-developed countries.

BUT - in the process, a number of orangutans have been displaced from their habitat, and that has upset a lot of people - who, incidentally, have never seen a live orangutan apart from in their local concrete zoo and, furthermore, are never likely to see an orangutan unless they travel thousands of miles in an avgas-guzzling aeroplane, at even greater cost to the environment.  (This is called eco-tourism, by the way.)

However, by tugging at gullible people's heart-strings, George Monbiot has maintained his position on the Guardian writing team and Friends of the Earth have no doubt gained a few more (paying) subscribers. 

Meanwhile, those of us who value the human race above all else will continue our endeavours to produce and use a valuable crop from a hitherto unproductive landscape.

T L de Winne