We drive, they starve. The mass diversion of the North American grain harvest into ethanol plants for fuel is reaching its political and moral limits.George Monbiot, that tireless promoter of the green agenda, has (to his credit) been warning about the consequences of biofuels for some time.
"The reality is that people are dying already," said Jacques Diouf, of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "Naturally people won't be sitting dying of starvation, they will react," he said.
The UN says it takes 232kg of corn to fill a 50-litre car tank with ethanol. That is enough to feed a child for a year. Last week, the UN predicted "massacres" unless the biofuel policy is halted.
We are all part of this drama whether we fill up with petrol or ethanol. The substitution effect across global markets makes the two morally identical.
But biofuels are only part of the problem: increasing demand, depleted stock piles and the high price of oil (together with biofuels and other factors) have combined to rapidly push up world food prices over the last nine months. And, as I've said before, things are not going to get any easier.
Food is a global commodity: let biofuels compete with food crops and the international markets will trade hunger for fuel. As long as we can afford to spend more money running our cars than they can on feeding themselves - we can drive while they go hungry.
If that thought gives you qualms you may be assured, by those who know, it's all for the good of the planet.
