Progressive NGOs make a tactical error on biofuels
We quickly come back to the open letter published recently by some NGOs, in which they call for blocking the development of a biofuels industry in the developing world (earlier post). We have reacted against this letter, because even though some concerns of these NGOs are valid, they refuse to see the many social and economic benefits brought by the development of green fuels in the South.
In an op-ed piece for Salon, Andrew Leonard, referring to one of our earlier articles (taken up by SciDev), rightly calls the NGOs' vision a 'tactical error':
As our readers know, the entire rationale of the Biopact precisely is to fight against forms of economic, social and epistemic 'neocolonialism', by supporting the South's attempts to break away from the petro-modernist development strategy that has kept it in poverty and dependency for so long. The production of biofuels -- call them 'green' or 'red' -- offers a strategy to achieve this goal. We would want the NGOs in question to consider our perspective and take it along in the debate [entry ends here]
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Africa :: developing world :: South-South ::
In an op-ed piece for Salon, Andrew Leonard, referring to one of our earlier articles (taken up by SciDev), rightly calls the NGOs' vision a 'tactical error':
But progressive NGOs that aim to resist the rollout of biofuel production are making a tactical error when they frame it in the classic rhetoric of North-South exploitation. When India and Brazil get together with Senegal, that's about as South-South as you can get. This is not to say that countries that once bore the brunt of imperialism and colonialization cannot turn around and inflict those sins upon others, but at some point, perhaps one should concede that a country like Senegal does have some agency of its own.We must urgently have a fair debate, in which we both highlight the social and economic benefits of biofuel production in the South, as well as the potential dangers. The NGOs' virulent, unnuanced and ideologically burdened attack against biofuels makes them lose their credibility as partners in this debate, which is tragic, precisely because they are the ones who can bring a critical and progressive angle to it.
As our readers know, the entire rationale of the Biopact precisely is to fight against forms of economic, social and epistemic 'neocolonialism', by supporting the South's attempts to break away from the petro-modernist development strategy that has kept it in poverty and dependency for so long. The production of biofuels -- call them 'green' or 'red' -- offers a strategy to achieve this goal. We would want the NGOs in question to consider our perspective and take it along in the debate [entry ends here]
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: Africa :: developing world :: South-South ::
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home