Fertilizer Runoff Overwhelms Streams and Rivers--Creating Vast "Dead Zones" By David BielloScientific American online; March 14, 2008http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fertilizer-runoff-overwhelms-streams The nation's waterways are brimming with excess nitrogen from fertilizer--and plans to boost biofuel production threaten to aggravate an already serious situation FERTILE RUNOFF: Nitrates from fertilizer as well as animal and human waste are carried by streams [...]

Corn ethanol is worsening the Gulf dead zonemongabay.com; March 10, 2008http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0310-ethanol.html Proposed legislation that will expand corn-ethanol production in the United States will worsen the growing "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico and hurt marine fisheries, report researchers writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The dead zone, an expanse [...]

EDITORIAL: Ethanol's tollThe Times Picayune; Friday, March 14, 2008http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1205472218150640.xml&coll=1 Congress wants U.S. production of corn-based ethanol to reach 15 billion gallons by 2022, but that target has dire consequences for another important goal: shrinking the Gulf of Mexico dead zone to a quarter of its size by 2015. The dead zone, which forms off the [...]

More ethanol will expand Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone': reportCBS News, March 10, 2008http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/03/10/science-ethanol.html Ramping up ethanol production for alternative fuels will worsen the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, a stretch of water unable to support aquatic life, according to a report co-written by the University of British Columbia. The U.S. Senate's recently [...]

Report links fuel to dead zone By Chris KirkhamTimes Picayune, March 12, 2008 As the nation's demand for ethanol drives record corn production in the Midwest and increased fertilizer runoff into the Mississippi River, shrinking the annual "dead zone" that forms off Louisiana's coast will be "practically impossible" without major changes, according to a report [...]

US corn biofuels will expand Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone': scientists By AFP GoogleMarch 11, 2008http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jU6qItzJ1GYKP8nH0U2vO6ggZlag VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — A planned increase in US ethanol production from corn would spell environmental "disaster" for marine species in the Gulf of Mexico, said a co-author of a science study published Monday. A boost in corn production [...]

Biofuels push could boost Gulf dead zone By Amy WoldThe Advocate, Baton Rouge; March 11, 2008http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/16485626.html?showAll=y&c=y As Congress mandates an increase in biofuel production, a scientific study shows the push for additional corn production could have negative consequences for the Gulf of Mexico's health. Published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [...]

Indiana can't afford to ignore its environment By EditorialIndiana Star; March 3, 2008http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803020336 It is Indiana's forgotten issue.   State leaders in recent years have rightly dedicated time, money and energy on Indiana's twin needs: rebuilding the economy and revamping the education system. But a third "E'' -- the environment -- has been overlooked.   [...]

Success eludes dead-zone task forceThe Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, Louisiana; March 3, 2008http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803030310 A federal-state task force created to address the dead-zone problem in the Gulf of Mexico met in Chicago last week. They came together with a number of state and local officials but had little to report in regard to reducing or eliminating the [...]

How Green Are Bamboo Clothes? By Mary Logan BarmeyerThe Green Guidehttp://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/ask/bamboo A reader writes the Green Guide: I heard on NPR a report on bamboo fabrics and other products, and in a very brief comment the reporter said that bamboo is processed using very harsh chemicals. I have not been able to find out about [...]