Des Moines, Iowa — A new study says converting more land to grow crops for biofuels may negatively affect wildlife protected in Iowa and elsewhere under the Endangered Species Act.
Researcher Tyler Lark, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, authored the report which he says demonstrates the environmental consequences of expanding corn production.
The report highlights whooping cranes, Poweshiek skipperling butterflies and black-footed ferrets. Lark says these endangered species would likely be affected by the drainage of wetlands and conversion of grasslands for crop production.
Lark says one solution is expanding cover crops on acres that grow corn for ethanol, which animals could use as habitat. The CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association says ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by roughly half compared to gasoline and the study has was he describes as obvious errors.
Photo above: Radio Iowa File Photo
