skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump tells Justice Dept. to seek release of Epstein grand jury testimony; NV education advocates blast freeze on federal funds; and VA leaders push EV adoption as economic, national security imperative.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

An asylum case sparks alarm, protests invoke the late John Lewis, Trump continues to face backlash over the Epstein files and the Senate moves forward with cuts to foreign aid.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Trump administration's axe to clean energy funding could hit rural mom-and-pop businesses hard, cuts also jeopardize Alaska's efforts to boost its power grid using wind and solar, and a small Kansas school district engages new students with a focus on ag.

Report: Ethanol Production Eating Up CA Grasslands Near Refineries

play audio
Play

Thursday, March 23, 2017   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A new report shows the Renewable Fuel Standard has had some unintended consequences – leading to the loss of 7 million acres of grassland nationally within the past few years – mostly in and around ethanol refineries as demand grew for corn.

The study showed that in California alone, almost 50,000 acres of non-crop lands have been converted within a hundred miles of the state's nine ethanol plants.

One of the study authors, Ben Larson with the National Wildlife Federation, says the lion's share of the acreage was precious grasslands, which serve as habitat for many species, especially birds.

"The issue of habitat loss driven by biofuels policy needs to be at the center of the debate about reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard," he states.

The standard required that gasoline contain a certain percentage of biofuels, and it specified that the new crops could not be grown on recently converted land.

Nonetheless, Larson notes that the U.S. saw widespread loss of grasslands concentrated around the ethanol plants, a fact that could inform policymakers in the future.

Chris Wright, a landscape ecologist and complex systems analyst with the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, says people need to keep climate change goals in mind even as ethanol production moves away from corn and toward cellulosic ethanol made from grasses and other plants.

"As we move forward with cellulosic ethanol, I think it's going to be important to continue to monitor land use change to guarantee that the results of the policy reduces greenhouse-gas emissions," he states.

Studies have shown that compared with grasslands, corn crops take significantly more water and fertilizer, provide less habitat and absorb less carbon from the air.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Department of Education has frozen grants that support summer learning, teacher professional development, after-school programs, English-language classes, support for children of migrants, school-based mental health and adult education. (Syda Productions/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Public education advocates are sounding alarms about the upcoming school year because the federal government is holding up about $60 million in funds …


Social Issues

play sound

An Eau Claire resident is speaking out about how federal cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could affect his life and …

Environment

play sound

A cleaner environment through less waste is the goal of a new state organization, the Indiana Composting Council. The council will enlist …


According to CalRecycle, 2.6 million tons of plastic packaging and foodware end up in California landfills every year. (Erik/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

California receives high marks in a report on the fight against plastic pollution. This is Plastic-free July and the United States of Plastics report…

play sound

Environmental groups say Oregon's new groundwater law, meant to curb pollution, has been diluted to the point they can no longer support it. …

At least one in seven Nebraskans, or 287,240 people, are facing hunger, with one in five children considered food insecure. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Groups working to end hunger in Nebraska are reaching out to all parts of the state to train food insecure people to advocate for others facing simila…

Social Issues

play sound

New Mexico demonstrators will join nationwide protests today to oppose policies of the Trump administration. The "Good Trouble Lives On" nonviolent …

Social Issues

play sound

More seniors in Washington state are facing financial strain or even losing their homes and seven local organizations will expand support for them wit…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021