This write-up demonstrates an important economic and life lesson: actions with even the best intentions can have unintended consequences, so we need to really think about all the consequences and the people whom we might affect.

• Concerns about climate change have fueled a massive, global increase in demand for alternative fuels like biodiesel, which can be refined from the oil palm tree.
• Although the use of biofuels itself releases way less carbon than fossil fuels, the destruction of rainforest necessary to produce the palm oil results in much more carbon dioxide being released than the use of petroleum-based fuels.
• Even though there are laws in place to protect endangered forests, those laws are not being enforced and the majority of the forest is in danger of being irreparably destroyed and replaced by oil palm plantations.

Facts & Figures

• U.S. subsidies for biofuels are set to total $92 billion between 2006 and 2012.
• When the destruction of the rainforest is factored in, oil palms produce 10 times more carbon than petroleum.
• 98% of Indonesia’s rainforest will be degraded or destroyed by 2022 if the current rate of destruction is kept up.

Best Quote

“For the permit certification, a guy just comes to your office and you just pay him off. This is how it works.” – Ong Kee Chau, former executive at Wilmar International Ltd.