[Texgreen] The hidden cost of going green

[Roger Baker]

http://www.energybulletin.net/30502.html


Biofuel gangs kill for green profits
Tony Allen-Mills, The Sunday Times (UK)

HE survived decades of Colombia's murderous guerrilla uprisings. He
lived through paramilitary purges and steered well clear of the
cocaine overlords who swarmed across his rural region. It was
something completely different that killed Innocence Dias. He died
because the world is turning green.

The global quest for alternative sources of environmentally friendly
energy has attracted high-profile support from American politicians,
including President George W Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the
governor of California. Celebrities such as Daryl Hannah, the actress,
and Willie Nelson, the country singer, are leading a campaign to
promote green fuels.

Yet the trend has already had disastrous consequences for tens of
thousands of peasants in rural Colombia. A surge in demand for
biofuels derived from agricultural products has unleashed a chaotic
land grab by a new breed of gangster entrepreneurs hoping to cash in
on the world's thirst for palm oil and related bioproducts.

Vast areas of Colombia's tropical forest are being cleared for palm
tree plantations. Charities working with local peasants claim that
paramilitary forces in league with biofuel conglomerates - some of
them financed by US government subsidies - are forcing families off
their land with death threats and bogus purchase offers.

"The paramilitaries are not subtle when it comes to taking land," said
Dominic Nutt, a British specialist with Christian Aid who recently
visited Colombia. "They simply visit a community and tell landowners,
`If you don't sell to us, we will negotiate with your widow'."