Church workers cautiously watch ethanol boom in Brazil

Published: 2007-08-14

DOURADOS, Brazil (CNS) -- As the bus rolls along between endless fields of corn on the highway from Campo Grande to Dourados, it is difficult to believe that malnutrition was one of the major social problems that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had to tackle when he took office. The southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which borders Bolivia and Paraguay, became part of Brazil's agribusiness boom, with corn and soy plantations stretching beyond the horizon. Now it is poised for the ethanol bonanza. With oil prices around $70 a barrel, investors see ethanol as the wave of the future -- an alternative to gasoline from a renewable source that produces fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. Nevertheless, bishops and church workers in Brazil are watching the boom in ethanol production with concern. "In Brazil, the quest for ethanol-based energy cannot come at the cost of ecological equilibrium, agrarian reform and food security, or violate the fundamental rights of human beings," the bishops said in a statement in March.

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