LOOPHOLES IN BIOFUELS LEGISLATION COULD ACTUALLY ACCELERATE CLIMATE CHANGE (Kirklees Liberal Democrats)

Kirklees Liberal Democrats <info@kirkleeslibdems.org.uk>

LOOPHOLES IN BIOFUELS LEGISLATION COULD ACTUALLY ACCELERATE CLIMATE CHANGE

April 17, 2008 10:59 AM

New fuel legislation that came into force on Tuesday 15th requiring that petrols and diesels now contain a minimum 2.5% biofuels could actually end up accelerating climate change warn local Liberal Democrats.

Cllr David Woodhead (Lib Dem, Holme Valley North) says:

"The Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) is fundamentally flawed".

"It contains no restrictions that will stop biofuels that are grown on newly deforested areas of rainforest, such as those in Indonesia, ending up in the pumps across Kirklees.

"Rainforest deforestation is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, accounting for one fifth of global greenhouse gases."

"The RTFO will actually encourage further destruction of these environmentally crucial parts of the globe by failing to discourage these areas from being turned over to biofuel production."

"This is massively incompetent"

"The Government has promised that detailed information will be available about the source of the fuels and whether they meet what they say are "environmental standards".

"The problem here is that no such standards exist and that the suppliers will be perfectly in their right to say they don't know the origin of the biofuel. In doing so they will have will have complied with the current requirements of the system. It's laughable."

"A better solution to the problem of climate change is proper investment in public transport and improving the efficiency of cars."

The RTFO has received widespread objections from Greenpeace, Oxfam and Freinds of the Earth. They have also raised concerns about rain forest deforestation but also about how food production could be adversely affected and lead to human rights abuses.

Senior forests campaigner Belinda Fletcher said:

"Right now, rainforests are being destroyed to make way for biofuel crops in places like Indonesia. This destruction leads to massive greenhouse gas emissions and completely undermines the point of these so called 'green fuels'.

"The government claims its plans will promote the best biofuels, but in reality there is nothing to stop the use of crops like Indonesian palm oil being pumped into our fuel tanks. At a time when the world's leading scientists are warning us of the madness of cutting down rainforests to grow crops for fuel, to press ahead with these plans is incredibly reckless.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary Norman baker has said:

"Thanks to flaws in the Government's system, companies selling these fuels will even be allowed to get away with saying that they don't know whether they've been sourced sustainably or not. This makes a mockery of the entire idea of sustainability standards."