Prairies Vanishing in the US Amid Push for Corn Ethanol-Based Energy

• The US boasted nearly 92 million acres of corn crops in 2014 – the fifth largest corn acreage in the US since 1944 (and 93 percent of it is genetically modified)
• Since the US government began requiring corn ethanol in fuel in 2007, more than 1.2 million acres of grassland have been lost to corn (and soy) crops
• Plowing up native grasslands to plant vast expanses of corn and soy – the epitome of monoculture -- releases carbon dioxide into the environment while increasing erosion and the use of toxic fertilizers and other chemicals; it also destroys habitat for native plants and wildlife.
• More than 8 million acres of grassland and wetlands have been converted to corn from 2008 to 2011, which released at least 80 million tons of carbon a year
• In 2014, economists estimate that $9.6 billion in taxpayer money could be paid out to corn, barley, soybean, rice, wheat, and sorghum producers due to government subsidies – double what was paid in 2013 and 53 percent more than the Congressional Budget Office predicted
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• Read more: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/16/corn-ethanol.aspx?e_cid=20141216Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20141216Z1&et_cid=DM64405&et_rid=765902437