What is wrong with us all?

George Monbiot today reveals that the madness with adopting bio-fuels as an alternative to petrol is already hitting food prices worldwide (see here). He warned of this three years ago, and let's be honest, his argument is nothing but common sense. You cannot suddenly convert land from food to fuel and expect there to be no comeback. Sure, you might try to clear forest to make more land for fuel, but at what cost? If the area is similar to the Amazon then within a decade the land is lost, its capacity for growing anything leeched out of the soil.

If we're all going to hell in a handcart then I'm glad I saw the light when I did. While I get angry at mankind's stupidness and selfishness, I can at least look in the mirror at myself and know I not only acknowledged the problem but made some kind of effort to minimise my impact on the planet. Once you do that, life becomes a lot easier. Give me the desire to relearn the piano instead of purchasing a Playstation 3, or the will to spend time growing fruit and veg on our allotment instead of watching high-definition pictures on a plasma screen. Perhaps that's why the determination to not fly again in the foreseeable future doesn't leave me with longing for Canada, but excited to see how public transport can open up this corner of the world - hence our upcoming trip to the French Open in Paris courtesy of Eurostar. Who needs excessive capitalist consumption anyway?