In his testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee on January 28 2009, Al Gore was asked by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) about the myth that sugarcane is leading to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

After praising Brazil’s President Lula proposal to contain thought-less deforestation, Gore said, “it’s important to note that the exploitation of the sugarcane growing areas in Brazil, which gives a highly efficient source of ethanol, that’s efficient economically and in terms of energy balance, does not have to inevitably have the knock-on consequence of causing destruction in the Amazon. It’s a different area of Brazil and with the kind of policy innovation that President Lula has proposed, I believe they can, if they enforce it — that’s been one of the problems with past initiatives — if they enforce it, I think that they can continue to provide global leadership on ethanol production and avoid deforestation.”