Speech to the Third Reading of the Biofuel Bill; Parliament; Wednesday, September 3 2008
There’s a lot of truth in the old saying that ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ – an adage that is demonstrated in a million ways around the world on a daily basis, and which our own Labour-led Government is proving with its moves to ram through its controversial and detrimental Emissions Trading Scheme.
To make matters worse Labour has just passed – under Urgency – the Biofuel Bill, which will see New Zealand forced to embark upon a campaign of changing our fuel source from fossil fuels to those deemed more environmentally friendly.
Under the Bill, all petrol and diesel suppliers will be required to mix these fuel sources with biofuels with an initial level of 0.53 percent in 2008 – increasing to an upper level of 2.5 percent by 2012. Great news, yes? No.
Because the problem with biofuels is that they are not as environmentally friendly as Labour would have us believe.
For instance: in the US, the leading source of biofuel is corn (maize). Last year, however, Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen – a man not known for his climate change scepticism – discovered that biofuels made from corn and rapeseed contribute more to global warming than fossil fuels.
Isn’t global warming supposed to be a bad thing? According to Labour, it is – as are negative emissions.
But biofuels cause negative emissions as well. As a matter of fact, biofuels emit a significantly higher level of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere than fossil fuels – and nitrous oxide is the principle cause of smog.
Isn’t THAT a bad thing as well? I would have thought so.
But let’s move away from global warming and emissions. Let’s look at de-forestation. Brazil is currently the world’s second-largest producer of biofuels. A country that is already well known for its rapidly diminishing rainforests has now embarked on a large scale ‘slash and burn’ campaign of cutting down its rainforests to clear more land for sugar cane – which will be used to produce biofuels.
One would have thought this would have caused some consternation among the Greens and conservation-minded Labour MPs. Apparently not.
As if this were not bad enough, there is the direct human cost. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in Africa and Asia where, rather than being used for human consumption, food is being turned into biofuel. The most poverty-stricken people in the world are now starving because they can no longer afford the very cheap foods that literally kept them alive. Further, land that was once used for intensive food production is now being converted to biofuel production.
It is no wonder that UN Food Adviser Olivier de Schutter this year said that:
“The ambitious goals for biofuel production set by the US and the European Union are irresponsible … I am calling for a freeze on all investment in this sector.”
Thanks to the biofuel fad sweeping the western world, the world’s poor aren’t just becoming poorer – they’re starving.
Soon that human cost will hit New Zealand – albeit on a smaller scale. You see, the Labour-led Government is obsessed with appearances and will do anything to look good on the global stage – even if that appearance comes at a cost to the very citizens it is supposed to care and provide for.
As it is, Labour has foisted the ETS – and all its subsequent costs – upon us for no other reason than to be a ‘world beater’. Now the Biofuels Bill will add to that burden. While Helen Clark and Michael Cullen sit in their Ministerial BMWs and talk about how positively they’ve acted for the environment, New Zealanders will struggle to make ends meet in the face of food prices pushed up by the Biofuels Bill.
Kiwis are already confronted with expensive fuel costs and rising food prices. These measures – through the ETS and the Biofuel Bills – will impose greater costs on all. Hardest hit will be those least able to afford it. The elderly, and those already struggling to balance limited household budgets, will have additional costs imposed on them for no gain to anyone – except Helen Clark, who simply wants to look good to her UN friends.
At a time when countries throughout the world are limiting their food production capacity to create biofuels, New Zealand has a unique opportunity. We should forget biofuels and forget trying to impress the world for the sake of looking good. Exporting food has always been New Zealand’s forte and, while food is in short supply, we can contribute to satisfying the demand. What we shouldn't do is abandon food production for the production of bio-fuels. Almost as much energy is consumed in their production as they generate and food is needed more.
