On Tuesday afternoon, a small group of MPs met in committee room 11 at the House of Commons to vote on the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO). It was a "delegated legislation" committee; which means they vote on things that would take up too much time on the floor of the House of Commons.
However, this time it was no small legal technicality being decided. Instead they voted to allow a measure which could lead to further trashing of the rainforests.
The RTFO means that, by April 2008, all fuel suppliers will need to ensure that 2.5 per cent of their sales in the UK come from biofuels - rising up to 5 per cent by 2010. But the measure contains no safeguards to ensure these biofuels come from a sustainable source. So from next spring your local forecourt could be selling supposedly 'green' biofuels which were grown on cleared rainforest land, increasing the threat of catastrophic climate change.
This hasn't given the government a moment's hesitation. They are pushing ahead, even though their own briefings admit: "There is currently no internationally agreed definition of a 'sustainable biofuel', nor a working standard that could be imposed." They also ignored nearly 3,000 submissions from Greenpeace supporters and those from other green organisations to their own consultation on the RTFO.
However, some in the business world are already questioning whether they should be using biofuels. National Express have suspended their trials of biodiesel: just one example of the increasing scepticism of the role biofuels can play in cutting CO2 emissions. Only last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, criticised biofuels for pushing up world food prices, saying: "It's a total disaster for those who are starving."
What was really surprising was that only the Conservative Party members rejected the measure out of hand in the committee. There was some disquiet amongst the Labour ranks, but they all followed the party whip in the end and the two Liberal Democrats members of the committee abstained.
This measure really needed a rebellion, but instead there was barely a whimper. It was a big decision by a small committee and the RTFO is now law. Oh dear.
