Abstract

Clayton W. Ogg

Biofuel policies involve a convergence between, policies to protect ecosystems and reduce greenhouse gases and policies to support food security and agricultural income. Beginning in 1985, agricultural programs shifted dramatically from being a major cause of environmental damage to providing a strong leverage which encouraged the most environmentally beneficial practices. Biofuel programs are erasing some of those gains. Careful review of the literature indicates that biofuel incentives considerably increase both food prices and destruction of the world’s tropical ecosystems, even though funding organizations have been slow to document the latter. Attempts to frame the policy issues as a pursuit of “biofuel sustainability” apparently understate environmental and food security challenges and could undermine over 2 decades of efforts to make farm programs more equitable, market oriented and environmentally friendly.