Happy Biofools Day!

Congratulations to Secretary Tom Vilsack

With 2,424 votes — more than the total number cast last year — the 2011 Biofool of the Year is Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack! There’s no doubt he deserves it; with Secretary Vilsack at the helm, the USDA has doubled down on its support for corn ethanol and biofuels.

About Biofools Day

Starting in 2009, we’ve made a practice each spring of asking Friends of the Earth activists to vote on the year’s biggest “biofool” — to choose the person that did the most that year to promote the use of environmentally harmful biofuels. Results are announced April 1 — Biofools Day!

2010 Winner: Congressman Collin Peterson

Peterson held the Waxman-Markey climate bill hostage until a provision was inserted to repeal a law that directed EPA to account for all greenhouse gas emissions related to the production of biofuels. Peterson eventually got his way, weakening a bill that was supposed to reduce greenhouse gases, not deny their existence.

Click here to see more about the 2010 biofool of the year nominees.

Watch below to see Friends of the Earth president Erich Pica and energy campaigner Kate McMahon deliver the 2010 Biofool of the Year award to Rep. Peterson’s Washington, DC office:

2009 Winner: Hugh Grant, CEO, Monsanto

The global biofuels rush has provided a perfect new market for Monsanto’s genetically modified plants, an inevitable ingredient of biofuel feedstocks. The agribusiness giant dismisses claims that biofuels are harmful for the environment or have anything to do with food price spikes and shortages.

Read about our 2009 nominees.

Click here to learn more about biofuels and how they impact the environment.