Catholic Bishops Slam Brazil Ethanol Growth Plan

Roman Catholic bishops warned on Thursday that a rapid increase in cane ethanol production in Brazil could have a devastating social and environmental impact in the countryside.

“Cane cultivation leads to land concentration because it requires large plantations and this has traditionally triggered a rural exodus,” said Bishop Odilo Scherer, who was appointed archbishop of Sao Paulo by Pope Benedict on Wednesday. “I can already see a new exodus (in Brazil).”
The bishops in the world’s largest Roman Catholic country also criticized the poor working conditions on sugar cane plantations.

“It’s a situation of tremendous misery,” said Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, president of the CNBB, citing the long working hours, poor pay and physical strain that cane cutters face.

Majella warned that expanding cane cultivation could encroach on primary forests, increasing deforestation rates. “We are going to turn the country into a huge cane (plantation),” he said.

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