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Bush’s Biofuels Beat Castro’s Cautions

Posted Jul 9, 07 7:33 PM CDT in World,  Politics,  Business,  Science & Health,  Technology,  Opinion 

(Newser) – The feud between biofuel booster George Bush and naysayer Fidel Castro is reviewed by Slate’s William Saletan—who says in the end Bush's position is the more progressive one. In fact he calls the erstwhile compassionate conservative a “revolutionary.” Castro argues that biofuel will take food out of mouths in poor countries to run cars in rich countries; Saletan says no.

An ethanol-as-energy revolution will actually drive up incomes in the Southern Hemisphere by inflating the value of open arable land, he argues. While not sold on the environmental messianism of the ethanol movement, he’s certain that Castro’s got it wrong—that a cellulose economy will give poor countries more, not less, to chew on.

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This photo provided by Enterprise Rental Car shows Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, right, fueling up an Enterprise Rental Car with Ethanol at a new Ethanol Gas Station in Washington, Thursday June 28,2007...   (Associated Press)
A shopper pays for her goods, Wednesday, June 13, 2007, at Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calif. Consumer prices shot up at the fastest pace in 20 months in May, fueled by a surge in gas prices, although inflation...   (Associated Press)
HFS Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, left, meets with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, unseen, in Havana, in a Monday, Jan. 29, 2007 file photo. Fidel Castro lashed out against U.S. biofuel plans in an...   (Associated Press)
U.S. President George W. Bush shakes hands with guests at Petrobras Transporte S.A. Facility after delivering a joint statement on BioFuel Technology, Friday, March 9, 2007 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (AP Photo/Pablo...   (Associated Press)
U.S. President George W. Bush, left, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, look at sugar cane stalks as they tour Petros Transporte S.A. Facility before delivering a joint statement...   (Associated Press)
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BBC Working Lunch - Biofuel Truck converted by Regenatec   (regenatec (YouTube))

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George W. Bush  • Fidel Castro  • biofuel  • ethanol


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