TOPEKA — One Kansas University researcher said he’s not so sure ethanol helps the environment. Ethanol has had a major role in the increasingly smaller numbers of monarch butterflies, said KU biologist Orley “Chip” Taylor, director of Monarch Watch. Corn and soybean production soared after the federal government set national goals of producing more renewable fuels such as ethanol, he said. As a result, farmers turned wild prairie into cropland and destroyed the majority of monarch habitats, he said. Monarch populations rely on milkweed, a perennial plant common to Midwest prairies. As milkweed has disappeared, so has monarchs, he said. Taylor also blames climate change, which has disrupted the butterflies’ migration cycles. People can help monarchs by restoring habitats and planting milkweed, he said. Last year, Monarch Watch partnered with Applied Ecological Services of Baldwin City to produce 25,000 milkweed pods to distribution. The group is already taking orders for this year.
Tuesday, April 15, 3 p.m.
