10 Nov 2009

Death squads for biodiesal in Dublin

I am very concerned about the Irish Greens support of biofuels, the main source of biofuels in the European Union is of course Colombia where repressive measures are used to clear people off the land to gain palm oil.

"The paramilitaries are not subtle when it comes to taking land," said Dominic Nutt of Christian Aid, in an interview with The Times of London. "They simply visit a community and tell landowners, 'If you don't sell to us, we will negotiate with your widow.'"

Farmers Who Refuse to Sell to Biofuel Interests Pay with Their Lives
Some farmers who have refused to sell or surrender their land have been murdered. There are also stories of paramilitaries cutting off the arms of illiterate peasants and using fingerprints from the severed hands to create fraudulent documents that transfer land ownership.

Will the Irish Greens promote human rights or have a no comment policy on bloodstained biodiesal? I don't think unless we are talking waste fat, etc that biofuels are environmentally friendly. There is the argument that land in Ireland unsuitable for growing food crops can be used for biofuels, however 70% or more of the biofuels used in Ireland are likely to come from abroad.

The Irish Green Party are currently in government with the centre right Fianna Fail party, motorway building, spending cuts, bailing out the banks with NAMA are all highly unpopular policies but if the promotion of biodiesal leads to more people being killed in Colomobia or rainforests being destroyed in Indonesia then that really would be unforgiveable.

Of course if the Irish Greens have come out on the issue of bloodstained biodesel I would be happy to flag this up positively.

Hey you know my position when people do green I praise and when it is paint job for property developers I complain.

When misplaced environmental policies kill, well that is another matter.

No comments:

Imperialism Is the Arsonist: Marxism’s Contribution to Ecological Literatures and Struggles

Derek Wall ’s article entitled  Imperialism Is the Arsonist: Marxism’s Contribution to Ecological Literatures and Struggles , argues that Ma...