In Defense of Biofuels, Done Right: Despite Recent Claims to the Contrary, Plant-Based Fuels Developed in Economically and Environmentally Sensible Ways Can Contribute Significantly to the Nation's--Indeed, The World's--Energy Security While Providing a Host of Benefits for Many People Worldwide‪.‬

Biofuels have been getting bad press, not always for good reasons. Certainly important concerns have been raised, but preliminary studies have been misinterpreted as a definitive condemnation of biofuels. One recent magazine article, for example, illustrated what it called "Ethanol USA" with a photo of a car wreck in a corn field. In particular, many criticisms converge around grain-based biofuel, traditional farming practices, and claims of a causal link between U.S. land use and land-use changes elsewhere, including tropical deforestation. Focusing only on such issues, however, distracts attention from a promising opportunity to invest in domestic energy production using biowastes, fast-growing trees, and grasses. When biofuel crops are grown in appropriate places and under sustainable conditions, they offer a host of benefits: reduced fossil fuel use; diversified fuel supplies; increased employment; decreased greenhouse gas emissions; enhanced habitat for wildlife; improved soil and water quality; and more stable global land use, thereby reducing pressure to clear new land.