It isn't easy being green

Guardian: Burning biofuels may be worse than coal and oil, say experts

Using biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and soy could have a greater environmental impact than burning fossil fuels, according to experts. Although the fuels themselves emit fewer greenhouse gases, they all have higher costs in terms of biodiversity loss and destruction of farmland.

Guardian: Palm oil: the biofuel of the future driving an ecological disaster now

… Oil palm for biofuel was to have been one of the best solutions in saving the planet from greenhouse gases and global warming. Instead the forests are being torn down in the headlong rush to boost palm oil production.

BBC: Low-energy bulbs 'worsen rashes'

The switch to energy-saving light bulbs may put thousands at risk of painful skin reactions, health charities warn.

BBC: Low-energy bulb disposal warning

The Environment Agency has called for more information to be made available on the health and environmental risks posed by low-energy light bulbs.

Hebden Bridge Times: Green bag makes me see red...

A severely disabled woman who suffered a potentially fatal allergic reaction to corn-starch bags provided by a Hebden Bridge shop is asking to be given back her "democratic right" to use plastic bags.

You have to do the cost-benefit analyses; weigh up the pros and cons. What might seem like an 'obvious' solution to a pressing environmental problem can often turn out to be anything but. And that which is treated as taboo by the tree-huggers might well turn out to be the only sensible answer.

It's time the politicians started listening to the scientists.