Agrofuels in the Americas

Posted April 27th, 2009 by rjonasse

Edited by Richard Jonasse.
As California considers new carbon-accounting standards for liquid fuels; a significant percentage of which will come from agrofuels; it is a perfect time to review what the past several years of the "Agrofuels Gold Rush" have wrought. This book looks primarily at the consequences in the U.S. and Latin America, but the problems with Agrofuels, in terms of Food Security, labor rights, and environmental destruction are widespread.

Individual Articles Below.

Agrofuels in the Americas looks at the ways in which agribusiness and energy corporations are taking advantage of peak oil, climate concerns, and global free trade rules to shape the future of agriculture to their advantage. The following articles illuminate the dynamics of trade relations, global capital flows, and their symbiotic relationship with international financial institutions such as the WTO, the World Bank, and the IMF. They open the black box of biotechnology strategies, the corporate cooptation of the genetic commons, and the voracious land and resource consumption of the agrofuels industry. Finally, these pieces discuss the human tragedy of agrofuels' effects on peasant farmers, rural labor, indigenous peoples, and the environment--and the corporate externalization of their social and environmental costs. They provide a picture of the future of agriculture, labor, and the biosphere if the forces capitalizing on current global crises can push their plans through. Agrofuels in the Americas touches on these key concerns with the aim of informing the current debates around food, fuel, and human rights.

Introduction: Agrofuels and our Endangered World. By Richard Jonasse

I. The Ecological and Social Tragedy of Crop-based Biofuel Production in the Americas. By Miguel Altieri & Elizabeth Bravo

II. When Renewable Isn’t Sustainable: Agrofuels and the Inconvenient Truths Behind the 2007 U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act. By Eric Holt-Giménez and Isabella Kenfield

III. The Free Market in Agrofuels: Regulation and Trade in the Americas. By Gretchen Gordon & Jessica Aguirre

IV. Agribusiness’ Field of Dreams: IFIs and Latin America’s Agrofuel Expansion. By Richard Jonasse

V. The Environmental and Social Consequences of “Green Capitalism” in Brazil. By Maria Luisa Mendonça

VI. Agrofuels Plantations and the Loss of Land for Food Production in Guatemala. By Laura Hurtado

VII. The Agrofuels Trojan Horse: Biotechnology and the Corporate Domination of Agriculture. By Annie Shattuck

VIII. Magical, Myth-Illogical, Biological Fuels?? By Rachel Smolker & Brian Tokar

IX. Will Sustainability Certifications Work? A Look at the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels. By Annie Shattuck