CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

For years, Congress has promoted corn ethanol, touting its purported environmental benefit. Mounting data now suggest these assumptions were wrong. Expanded use of food for fuel is exacerbating environmental threats, including pollution in U.S. waterways.

New data out this week on the growing "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico starkly highlight this concern.

Dead zones are created when large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous run off into warm waters, spawning algae blooms. When these algae decompose, they deplete oxygen from the surrounding water below the level needed to support marine life.

Now, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University predict that the 2008 Gulf Dead Zone could be the largest since tracking began in 1985. They forecast that this year it could span some 8,800 square miles — about the size of New Jersey. An A&M researcher said this week their most recent measurements off the Louisiana coast support this prediction.

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