Fouling up the Planet by the Numbers

In what was obviously a warning to Bill Ritter and Mark Udall without mentioning either by name, the Rocky Mountain News said the following about corn ethanol:

"This dramatic expansion has substantial implications for already strained water and grassland resources in the Ogallala Aquifer region [eastern Colorado]," the report states, calculating the additional withdrawal of water from the most depleted parts of the aquifer at 59 billion to 120 billion gallons per year - comparable to the amount of water consumed by Denver Water Board customers in a year. Another potential consequence, it warns, is the loss of fragile grasslands...

Lawmakers need to recognize that alternative fuel programs come with a price that is not always obvious, and could create larger problems than the ones they're intended to cure.

Isn't it interesting that the same Mark Udall who has done so much to kill off Colorado's forests might also eventually take the blame for permanently turning eastern Colorado into a dust bowl? And he has done all of this while claiming to be an "environmentalist!"