Tag: bioscience

Corn Ethanol’s Footprint

  • Despite recent findings, political interests in Washington are working to extend corn ethanol subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.(Photo courtesy of AmandaLeighPanda CC-2.0)

For a long time, corn growers and the corn ethanol industry have claimed their fuel is low carbon. That is, it’s lower in the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. A second study is out which disputes that claim.Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

For a long time, corn growers and the corn ethanol industry have claimed their fuel is low carbon. That is, it’s lower in the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Lester Graham reports… a second study is out which disputes that claim.

This study published in the journal BioScience also found corn is being used for ethanol instead of exported to other countries. Those other countries are plowing up grasslands and rainforests to plant corn for food. Less rainforest means less CO2 is being taken up by plants.

Thomas Hertel is a researcher at Purdue and lead author of the new study.

He finds ethanol from corn is not a low-carbon fuel when you include that indirect effect.

“It results in a figure which [is] not significantly lower than emissions associated with gasoline.”

But, political interests in Washington are working to extend corn ethanol subsidies which are set to expire at the end of this year.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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Study: Endangered Species Act a Success

Republican lawmakers have criticized the Endangered Species Act as an outdated law that does little to protect endangered plants and animals. Now researchers have published a new study that they say shows the Endangered Species Act does work. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

Republican lawmakers have criticized the Endangered Species Act as
an outdated law that does little to protect endangered plants and
animals. Now researchers have published a new study that they say
shows the Endangered Species Act does work. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:

Researchers looked at data on the more than one thousand plants and
animals on the Endangered Species List. They found that the longer a
species is on the List the more likely it is to be classified as
improving. Kieran Suckling co-authored the study published in the
journal BioScience. He says the study shows endangered
species are better off when their habitat is protected:


“And that might sound obvious because habitat protection is
obviously good for species, but in fact that’s one of our more
controversial conclusions because the Bush administration that critical
habitat designation does not benefit species and we were able to show
that in fact it does.”

The Bush Administration has proposed that critical habitat for
endangered species be limited to the land where the plant or animal is
currently found. Some environmentalists fear this is the first move in
the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Endangered Species Act.

For the GLRC, I’m Mark Brush.

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Downsides of Dam Removal

States have been removing old dams from rivers for safety and environmental reasons. But researchers say water managers should be sure to take a close look when considering dam removal as an option because, in some cases, it might be bad for the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

States have been removing old dams from rivers for safety and
environmental reasons. But researchers say water managers should be
sure to take a close look when considering dam removal as an option
because, in some cases, it might be bad for the environment. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:


This year, 45 dams are slated for removal across the country. Half of
those dams are in this region.


Emily Stanley is a river ecologist at the University of Wisconsin.
She’s been studying rivers after a dam has been removed and recently
published her findings in the journal “BioScience.” She
says in farm country, dams can help trap fertilizers that have been
over-applied on nearby fields.


“Small reservoirs can act like wetlands, and can be effective filters
for removing the nitrogen that has come in off of farm fields through
groundwater into the system, and can be actually some valuable points
of improving water quality.”


Stanley says, in many cases, sediments have been collecting behind the
dams for decades. When the dam is removed, the sediments are suddenly
released downstream and can lead to harmful algae blooms. In some
cases, the sediments can contain more dangerous substances, such heavy
metals and PCB’s. Stanley says communities should be sure to weigh the
environmental consequences before removing a dam.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.