palm oil news stories on Newser

Girl Scouts: Thin Mints Killing Orangutans' Home

Rob Quinn — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:04:00 CDT

America's cookie buyers shouldn't have to choose between buying Girl Scout cookies and saving orangutans, say a pair of Michigan girl scouts leading calls for the organization to change its recipe. Seventh graders Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva, who have rallied Girl Scout troops across the country and set up...

Orangutans In Trouble as Forests Shrink

Kevin Spak — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:46:06 CDT

Illegal loggers and palm oil plantations may make the orangutan the first great ape to become extinct, scientists warn. In Indonesia, a mere 6,600 of the apes remain, while on Malaysia’s Borneo Island, the population has fallen 10% to 49,600, the Telegraph reports.

Peasants Booted for Biofuel Bucks

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:40:11 CDT

Paramilitary gangs are driving thousands of Colombian farmers from their land to make way for the nation's latest lucrative crop: palm oil to produce biofuel, the Guardian reports. The violent land grabs have helped create some 3 million displaced Colombians. "It's the dark side of biofuel," said a spokesman for...