The Dead Zone

And no, I'm not talking about the tv series...

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana, caused by nitrogen in the Mississippi River, will grow to more than 8,500 square miles, it's largest size in 22 years. Well, at least Louisiana doesn't have a lot of other problems to worry about right now...

As I discussed in a previous post, more corn for ethanol doesn't help this problem, as corn requires high-nitrogen fertilizer, which washes into the Mississippi.