"In America’s Corn Belt and around the world, some of the fertilizer applied to fields escapes the soil in new forms that contaminate and warm the planet. Some of these compounds enter the atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas that’s now at its highest concentration in the last 800,000 years, helping fuel climate problems like the flooding that upended farmers’ lives last spring," Wertz reports. "Other fertilizer byproducts contaminate water wells, especially in agricultural areas, where the U.S. Geological Survey says one in five has levels exceeding federal health limits. These contaminants also wash into streams, rivers and lakes, where they become what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls 'one of America’s most widespread, costly and challenging environmental problems.'"
Farmers are using nitrogen fertilizer at rates more than 40 times higher than they did 75 years ago, and though EPA advisors have advised limiting such fertilizer use for years, state authorities have most of the authority and have preferred to depend on voluntary cooperation instead of laws that enforce compliance, Wertz reports.
"An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, Grist and The World found that when states do try to regulate farms and reduce pollution linked to fertilizer, rules are often derailed or softened after industry pushback and political pressure," Wertz reports.
from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2RUEAFC Fertilizer runoff fouls drinking water and aids climate change, but laws have not addressed the problem - Entrepreneur Generations
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