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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (100657)	2/27/2011 11:24:13 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224744

--Albert Shanker, President of the United Federation of Teachers, 1964-84; President of the American Federation of Teachers, 1974-97 en.wikipedia.org

To: MJ who wrote (100657)	2/27/2011 11:25:47 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224744

ARLINGTON, Va. (DTN) -- America and other countries must move ahead in the push for renewable energy, but not at the risk of food shortages that increase global instability, former President Bill Clinton said at USDA's Outlook forum Thursday. Clinton told a packed audience in the opening session of the forum that farmers and agriculture will be at the vortex of global trends of increased food demand, the drive for renewable energy and the need to preserve global resources. As the world population moves from 6.5 billion to 9 billion people, the struggles with climate change will place more demand on American farmers to produce more food, and on farmers in individual countries to become more self-sufficient as well, Clinton said. In the midst of all that, he said, "I am not sure what the end of this energy issue will be, but I know there are problems with it everywhere. The more biofuels we grow here, the less crop we have to put into the international market." Renewable energy is fine if prices are low and the demand for energy is high and it makes the U.S. more independent of foreign oil. Citing a recent New York Times column, Clinton said if the U.S. needs to learn anything from the instability in Egypt and Libya, it's that it's time for the U.S. to become more energy independent. Clinton also noted that one-half of the U.S. trade deficit is energy. "On the other hand, it's not just America, it's other countries that have these challenges," Clinton said. Clinton noted that sugarcane in Brazil being used for biofuels has huge demand. That cane also doesn't displace the rainforests directly, but it does push soybeans and cattle producers into more marginal ground, and that has led to more deforestation, he said. "The tradeoffs that people in Iowa have to face over whether they have to sell this corn or make ethanol out of it are being faced by people everywhere," Clinton said. "And I think the best thing to do is to say we have to become energy independent. We don't want to do it at the expense of food riots." Year in and year out, Clinton said, people will have to make intelligent decisions about how to maximize the availability of good food at affordable prices, and maximize the move toward energy independence while also reducing the threats of climate change. "If you produce more biofuels and produce less food will that mean food prices will be even higher and we'll have more food riots?" Clinton said. "And if you produce less, is there some other way to provide the fuel that will help you and the rest of the world to produce food in the traditional way, and the demand will be so great you will still get a good price for it? These are things that no one can answer with certitude but everyone should be talking about that there are not inherent contradictions and dilemmas here."