The Renewable Diesel Scam with Gary Hughes

Breaking Green

Can converting petroleum refineries into renewable diesel production truly serve as a green alternative, or is it merely greenwashing? Join us this week on Breaking Green as we tackle this controversial issue with Gary Hughes from Biofuelwatch. Gary reveals the significant risks and threats posed by industrial bioenergy projects, including their impacts on land, forests, ecosystems, food sovereignty, and human rights. We also explore Biofuelwatch's mission and their recent victories, like opposing a geoengineering project and advocating for indigenous communities in Chile.
Is greenwashing misleading the public about what’s truly sustainable? Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch and I uncover how fossil fuel giants exploit biofuels and renewable diesel to maintain their environmentally damaging practices. These companies gain carbon credits while the global south suffers deforestation and heavy pesticide use in soy cultivation. We discuss the insidious nature of climate colonialism and the influence of neoliberal economic expansion on climate policy, especially in California.
In the final segment, we question the ethics and practicality of solar geoengineering as a climate solution. With Gary's insights into the billionaire class's fascination with technological fixes over real emission reductions, we critique the normalization of geoengineering and its potential catastrophic impacts. We also highlight the environmental crises in Chile, from wildfires to severe flooding, and the ongoing efforts of Global Justice Ecology Project to advocate for environmental justice. Tune in for a engaging conversation on the socio-environmental challenges we face and the urgent need for genuine solutions.
This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.
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Chapters

1. Opposing Renewable Diesel in California (00:00:00)

2. Impacts of Greenwashing and Geoengineering (00:15:43)

3. Geo Engineering Victory (00:31:16)

4. Back to Nature (00:38:03)

5. Chile's Environmental Crisis (00:43:09)