ESA activities on biofuels

Recently a number of people on the ECOLOG listserv have either recommended or asked about Ecological Society of America (ESA) activities on the topic of biofuels. ESA is in fact planning several activities on this topic, and we thought readers might appreciate a summary.

• At this summer’s Annual Meeting in San Jose, CA, Linda Wallace of the University of Oklahoma and Jim Ansley of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station are co-chairing the organized oral session “Biofuels from Rangelands: Boon or Bane?” which will explore economic and ecological issues associated with biofuels production from rangeland plants. See http://esa.org/sanjose/ for detail on the San Jose meeting.
• Linda Wallace is also preparing a guest editorial for the April issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
• The ESA Public Affairs Office has begun preparing a position statement that will summarize some of the major environmental issues associated with biofuels production.
• And finally, the ESA Science Office is working with ESA leadership and other ESA staff to develop a conference and workshop to (1) summarize what is known about the ecological implications of biofuels production and use, and (2) develop a research agenda to address the needs of policy makers and environmental managers for additional information. We hope to hold this event of about 100 invited participants in early 2008.