Food Riots Spread in Haiti, and Across the World, Fueled by Ethanol Mandates

Posted by Hans Bader

Food rioting has spread in Haiti, endangering the government of its “U.S.-backed president.”  “A desperate appeal from the president Wednesday failed to restore order to Haiti’s shattered capital, and bands of looters sacked stores, warehouses and government offices.”  The government responded with tear gas and bullets, as this video shows.

Food riots are occurring across the world as the world’s breadbaskets shift from producing food to producing ethanol, making food scarcer and more expensive.  Ethanol subsidies and mandates encourage this, even though ethanol production causes an enormous amount of environmental damage, deforestation, and soil erosion, does not reduce net greenhouse gas emissions, and causes inflation. 

CEI predicted last year that ethanol subsidies would cause worldwide food shortages and unrest.   Food riots are now occurring in Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and El Salvador.

 Email This Post  Print This Post

04/10/2008 @ 10:52 am | Agriculture, Economic Liberty, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, International, Precaution & Risk, Sanctimony | Comments

5 Responses to “Food Riots Spread in Haiti, and Across the World, Fueled by Ethanol Mandates”

  1. Posted by: How Al Gore Fostered Famine, Food Riots, and Rising Greenhouse Gas Emissions | OpenMarket.org - 04/10/2008

    [...] subsidies have led to hunger and food riots across the world, by diverting critical farmland from food production to fuel production.  While in the Senate, Al [...]

  2. Posted by: Food Prices Soaring Worldwide - The Global Warming Skeptics Forum - 04/10/2008

    [...] Food Riots Spread in Haiti, and Across the World, Fueled by Ethanol Mandates | OpenMarket.org Quote: [...]

  3. Posted by: Hundreds of Thousands Will Starve, IMF Says | OpenMarket.org - 04/13/2008

    [...] to shift from producing food to producing ethanol.   As a result, food riots have taken place across the world, in Mexico, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Haiti, El Salvador, Ivory Coast, and other [...]

  4. Posted by: » Air pollution? Southern sprawl? How about tyranny, starvation, and death? - 05/05/2008

    [...] agenda a wealthy elite, they will hurt not only the poor in this country, but as has been seen with ethanol policy, when these policies affect world markets, they have the potential to starve and kill the poorest [...]

  5. Posted by: Environmental Myths Harm Our Planet | OpenMarket.org - 06/13/2008

    [...] but he was wrong.  Ethanol subsidies are now causing environmental devastation and starvation and riots around the world, contributing to political instability and Islamic [...]

Leave a Reply of Your Own