Brazilian president Luis Inácio da Silva, or Lula, was given a media platform by the UK Guardian, one of the most influential newspapers in the country, to put across the arguments for sugar-cane ethanol, alongside other topics (the article appeared on June 01 and is not available online).
His main point was to reassure readers that the production of ethanol does not harm the environment because “it grows poorly in Amazonian soils”. He also said that “sugar cane planting helps restore degraded pastures elsewhere in the country that are then returned to food production”. He added that the sugar cane business in Brazil earns $8bn a year and creates a million direct jobs in rural areas thus curbing migration to urban centres.
