| By Barbara J.
Fraser
Catholic News Service
DOURADOS, Brazil (CNS) — The southern state
of Mato Grosso do Sul, which borders Bolivia and Paraguay, is part of
Brazil’s agribusiness boom, with corn and soy plantations stretching
beyond the horizon. Now it is poised for the ethanol bonanza.
With oil prices around $70 a barrel, investors see ethanol as the wave
of the future — an alternative to gasoline from a renewable source
that produces fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.
Nevertheless, bishops and Church workers in Brazil are watching the boom
in ethanol production with concern.
“In Brazil, the quest for ethanol-based energy cannot come at the
cost of ecological equilibrium, agrarian reform and food security, or
violate the fundamental rights of human beings,” the bishops have
said.
Brazil and the United States produce about 70 percent of the world’s
ethanol. Brazil distills about 4.4 billion gallons a year, and most of
the new vehicles sold in the country can run on either gasoline or ethanol.
Brazil is also a major exporter of the alternative fuel, and da Silva
has vowed to increase production.
When U.S. President George W. Bush visited Brazil in March, the two leaders
signed an agreement to promote ethanol use and production. Brazil is aiming
for total production of more than 9 million gallons a year by 2015.
Critics, however, say the alternative fuel has a down side. In the United
States, the demand for corn to produce ethanol has been blamed for pushing
up the price of foods, including tortillas in Mexico and milk from corn-fed
dairy cows.
Brazil’s ethanol is made from sugar cane, and proponents say it
does not compete with the food market and is cheaper and more cost-effective
than corn-based ethanol.
But in the state of Sao Paulo, where 80 percent of Brazil’s ethanol
is produced, growing sugar cane is twice as profitable as growing soy
or corn. Cane fields are displacing livestock and traditional food crops,
such as corn and oranges, said Isidoro Revers of the Brazilian bishops’
Pastoral Land Commission.
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