We featured coverage of the annual Ames Sand County Almanac "marathon" reading, led by Erwin Klaas, then pursued a controversy arising last week from the publication of scientific research about the carbon footprint of cellulosic ethanol, made from corn stalks. The DuPont plant going up in Nevada is the largest-ever plant using this experimental technology. Two articles published in the Des Moines Register last week demonstrate industry push-back against the researcher's conclusions that burning cellulosic ethanol may be worse for the environment than gasoline. Co-host Greta Anderson talks to Greenlee School of Journalism professor Michael Dahlstrom about this controversy as an example of how science is reported in the mass media.
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Information Sources:
- Study Casts Doubt on Climate Benefit of Biofuels from Corn Waste University of Nebraska press release
- Study: Corn Waste Fuels Not Cleaner than GasAP article published in DM Register
- Experts Say Ethanol Study Used Bad Model, Des Moines Register
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- Call for artists, Octagon "Snapshot" photo exhibit
Hosts: Ursula Ruedenberg and Greta Anderson
Originally broadcast 04/28/2014
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