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Palm Oil: Friend or Foe?
Two recent articles paint a contrasted picture of the effect of palm oil on the environment.
Once
hailed as a major ecological improvement in the fight over global
warming, the use of palm oil as a biofuel has become more and more
controversial, especially because of the impact of oil palm plantations
on forests. Malaysia and Indonesia have sacrificed large surfaces of
rainforest to the new crop, raising fears that whatever decrease in CO2
emission being achieved by the use of "green fuel" is largely offset by
the destruction of natural CO2 consuming trees. In addition to
deforestation, the effects on biodiversity and social justice can also
be disastrous, as described in this article in The Guardian.
However,
others think that with greater regulation preventing oil palm
cultivation on natural forest land, and ensuring that local communities
benefit from revenues, a socially responsible and environmentally
friendly palm oil industry is possible. See the article on Mongabay.com.
A good presentation of the issue can be found in this CNN article.
Posted By Anne-Sophie Samjee at 1:37pm on April 05, 2007
Comments: 0
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