Biorenewables: Helping or Hurting the Environment?

As Iowa and other midwestern states promote a bioeconomy based on renewable fuels such as corn and cellulosic ethanol, researchers and policymakers are examining the environmental impact of current production practices and how to make such processes truly sustainable on a mass scale. This panel will address how the state's burgeoning biofuels industry is affecting the quality of the state's air, soil, and water. Panelists include Fred Kirschenmann, distinguished fellow of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Iowa State; Neila Seaman, director of the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club; Sipho Ndlela, operations and research manager of the Mid-States Biodiesel, BECON Center (Nevada, IA); Chad Hart, head of Biorenewables Policy at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State; Robert C. Brown, director of the Office of Biorenewables Programs, Iowa State; Lee Honeycutt, associate professor of English, Iowa State. Part of the Third Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.