A colleague brings the Indonesian palm oil industry to my attention. The problem? Apparently, Indonesians are “logging, draining, and burning” rain forests (and releasing copious amounts of carbon dioxide in the process) to facilitate the cultivation of oil palms, which are being planted in response to “a surge in global demand for biofuels.” Quotes are taken from a November 16, 2007 AP article. According to my colleague, this morning’s Wall Street Journal Report said that apparently it would take 480 years for the reduced emissions from palm-based biofuels to match the carbon put in the atmosphere by clearing the rainforests. I can’t find the report online; comments are open if anyone has a link.

“The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences not merely for one group, but for all groups.” --Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson; been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.