President Barack Obama
president@whitehouse.gov

Copies to:
jackson.lisa@epa.gov, agsec@usda.gov, the.secretary@hq.doe.gov, webteam@ios.doi.gov, senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov, agriculture@mail.house.gov, scott.smullen@noaa.gov, info@ostp.gov

Dear President Obama,

I am writing to you in support of US environmental and social justice organisations calling for an end to US government support for agrofuels. The Open Letter by US groups can be found at:
www.globaljusticeecology.org/connections.php?ID=244

In particular, I ask you to reject the recently proposed ethanol blend increase from 10-15% which will only further investment in infrastructure supporting agrofuel expansion, and sets a terrible global precedent of increasing biofuel production from food, and at the expense of already stressed terrestrial ecosystems. Further, I ask you to include indirect land use change in assessments of greenhouse gas emissions from agrofuel production so that a realistic assessment of climate impacts is possible. Finally, halt plans for engaging other countries, particularly Brazil, in agreements to supply biofuels such as the proposed “Western Hemisphere Energy Compact” and “Energy Partnership of the Americas”.

As the Open Letter demonstrates, there is overwhelming evidence that agrofuels accelerate climate change: they are pushing the agricultural frontier further into forests and other ecosystems, which are essential for regulating the climate, and they are increasing fertiliser use and thus nitrous oxide emissions. This and numerous other adverse ecological impacts from industrial biofuels, including questioning whether corn ethanol production even results in a net energy benefit, have been confirmed by a series of scientific studies. Soya has been shown to be the main driver of Amazon deforestation and the US government support for corn ethanol has triggered large-scale soya expansion across South America as US farmers are switching from soya to corn. This is one of the main reasons why the Amazon deforestation rate sharply increased in 2007/08. Indications are that oil palm, the scourge of Asian rainforests, is becoming established in the Amazon as well.

Second-generation biofuels are likely to exacerbate, not mitigate the situation. All industrially produced biofuel crops, edible or not, still require land, soil, water, fertilizer and other finite inputs. Industrial tree plantations, including GE trees, are expected to become one of the major sources for future cellulosic ethanol or synthetic biodiesel. In South-east Asia, for example, both palm oil and acacia plantations are the two main drivers behind the destruction of rainforests and peatlands. The carbon dioxide emissions linked to this destruction are so high that they have turned Indonesia into the third biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Furthermore, one of the worst recent human rights abuses against Indonesian communities has been the fire-bombing and destruction of a village linked to a tree plantation company which is part of the Sinar Mas group that also invests in palm oil (tinyurl.com/bn6ptq).

Agrofuels have been amongst the main causes behind the rise in global food prices. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, more than one billion people are now going hungry. Agrofuels are linked to the displacement of indigenous peoples and small farmers, often involving violent evictions and human rights abuses. In Brazil, for example, a large number of social movements and NGOs have rejected the sugar-cane ethanol model, which is linked to degrading working conditions, the use of slave labour, violent evictions, to increasing hunger and poverty, and to the pollution of soils, air and water and to biodiversity losses (tinyurl.com/arc9wu and tinyurl.com/apr7vk).

There are many options for addressing climate change and energy security which are far less damaging than agrofuels and I hope you will turn your attention to these, including massive improvements in energy efficiency and public transport, support for truly clean energy from decentralised wind and solar power, supports for small scale organic agricultural practices and local food production, effective measures to protect biodiverse natural forests and the rights of indigenous peoples. And overall, it is essential that your climate and energy policies stress reduced consumption, particularly of energy and forest products.

Yours sincerely,