A timely U.N. report
The food vs. fuel debate reached new heights this week, with oil prices reaching new records and riots erupting over global food shortages.
Meanwhile a United Nations report released Tuesday -- three years in the making -- did little to offer clarity, noting that the economic, social and environmental effects of bioenergy "differ widely." Among the 64 governments involved in the report, the United States, Australia and Canada expressed reservations about some of the language related to market access and biotechnology.
And while it warned that farmers worldwide must reduce dependence on fossil fuels and better protect the environment, it also concluded "the diversion of agricultural crops to fuel can raise food prices and reduce our ability to alleviate hunger throughout the world."
The report, from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, commissioned 400 contributors, from scientists to businessmen.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
High-tide subway
New York's state Metropolitan Transportation Authority will power a subway station on Roosevelt Island with East River tides and study how to provide electricity to a bus depot in Far Rockaway, Queens, with wind turbines as it tries to reduce its environmental impact.
