Published 1/14/08 on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s NewsBlog

The Ecological Society of America says the country is rushing toward using biofuels as a replacement for petroleum without fully studying environmental sustainability. More-intensive cultivation of crops for fuel may accelerate soil erosion and damage to wildlife habitats and water quality, the society said in a written statement.

“There isn’t enough ecological research about the impact of doing this at the large scale,” said William J. Parton, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University and the society’s vice president for finance, in an interview. One outcome could be “an ecological disaster,” and more federal spending for such research is needed, he said. Read the full story and the mention of the GLBRC here.