Brazil trip opens French lawmakers' eyes to biofuel vs. food debate - AFP

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France Presse

Brazil trip opens French lawmakers' eyes to biofuel vs. food debate

9 hours ago

SAO PAULO (AFP) — A group of French lawmakers completing
a fact-finding trip to Brazil Friday said they were impressed
with the country's biofuel industry, but that Europe would
have to balance that model against the need to guarantee
food supplies.

That dual goal "obliges us to plan several mechanisms and
regulations in Europe and in France... to ensure food
security," said Jean Arthius, who led the French senate
finance committee on the six-day trip, which ends Saturday.

The official, a former economy minister, suggested in a
briefing in Sao Paulo to reporters that taxes on biofuels
could be one form of regulation.

He added, though, that he believed high food prices being
seen around the world were the result of "speculation,
which means that we don't really know the underlying
trends."

-snip-

Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAK94VOY_vuqAsD5Fx48Qfv-6fyw