The greening of capitalism?

...While it’s true that in order to protect the environment we must start to internalize costs...we can’t do so unless we also see “the end of cheap labor.” Otherwise ecological sanity will bring with it greater economic hardship for those most vulnerable...

I traveled around the world to explore how green capitalism is working on the ground...Most people would agree, this kind of small nonconventional farming is environmentally sound; the hitch is that it’s not economically sustainable. I spent time on a farm that sells greens for $40 a pound — I’m not exaggerating — and a dozen eggs go for $14. The farmer earns about $7 an hour...

Then I went to South America to look at globally produced organic foods... I went to Paraguay, to one of the largest organic sugar plantations and mills on the planet. It produces one-third of the organic sugar consumed in the United States, supplying General Mills for Cascadian Farm and its other organic brands, and Silk soymilk sold by Dean Foods... At this plantation I found that the company is clearing native forests... the plantation is essentially a large monocrop. It also uses factory farm poultry manure as fertilizer...The plantation is fundamentally relying on industrial farming methods to make organics work.

In terms of biofuels, I went to Borneo...Indonesia is the world’s third-largest carbon dioxide emitter largely because of deforestation...One of the Borneo plantations I went to — where we actually caught an illegal chainsaw crew in the act — sells its palm oil to Wilmar, which is partially owned by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). This all links back to the biggest, most powerful corporate interests. Cargill also has substantial plantations in Borneo and is an increasingly influential player in biodiesel...

http://www.isreview.org/issues/70/feat-greencapitalism.shtml

nt