1 Billion Butterflies Dead and Environmentalists May Be to Blame
By Chris White | March 11, 2018
Many environmentalists who once supported the U.S. ethanol policy are now regretting their decision as data shows the corn-based fuel is wiping out the country’s monarch butterfly population.
The monarch butterfly population declined nearly 15 percent during the past winter, according to a report Wednesday from the National Wildlife Federation.
Activists with the group also suggest the decline is attributable to the Renewable Fuel Standard that activists once championed.
“With monarch butterflies now down 90 percent in the last 20 years, we simply must do more if we are going to be successful in reversing monarch butterfly decline,” said Collin O’Mara, the wildlife federation’s CEO and president.
The federation is the nation’s leading partner with Rethink Ethanol, a coalition seeking to abolish the biofuels mandate.