It may not grab headlines like climate change or forever chemicals, but nitrogen pollution threatens our air, water, and public health.
On Monday, Stetson, supported by a grant from BlueGAP and the National Science Foundation, hosted a day of conversation about the issue and how to address it. The event brought scientists, nonprofit managers, legal professionals, policy makers, academics, and students together to talk about its sources, impacts, solutions, and what (and who) stands in the way of fighting it.
As the day began, Law Professor and Stetson Institute for Biodiversity Law & Policy Director Royal Gardner talked about what makes nitrogen pollution a unique problem.
“I really don’t need to tell this audience that nitrogen is one of the building blocks of life; a necessary nutrient for agricultural production,” he said. “Yet in some forms and in some places, nitrogen is a pollutant. Indeed, nitrous oxide is considered to be a super-pollutant, as it is both an ozone-depleting substance and a greenhouse gas. Nitrogen fertilizer runs off of agricultural fields and that harms water quality; contributes to harmful algal blooms.” He added that nitrogen pollution has “particular salience” for Floridians, whose lives are affected by increased hurricane activity and intensity due to warming seas as well as blue green-algae and red tide outbreaks caused or exacerbated by nutrient pollution.
Examining a lesser-known challenge
Referring to nitrogen pollution as a “wicked problem,” New York University Professor and Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative Dr. David Kantner pointed out that what separates the global nitrogen pollution problem is that, unlike CFCs or DDT, it is not something we can simply stop using.
“There is no world where you ban nitrogen,” he said. “It is impossible. We rely on it. Not just the natural world, but the human world; the global food system that we depend on.”
About a century ago, he said, scientists combined nitrogen and hydrogen to create ammonium, which made nitrogen more easily absorbed by crops. The synthetic fertilizer products that resulted made industrial-scale agriculture possible, but not without consequences.
As it is routinely over-applied to crops, the excess nitrogen pollutes our air and runs off into waterways. The same nutrient bioavailability that helps crops grow also fosters harmful algae growth in the water – including the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area the size of New Jersey so devoid of oxygen that marine life cannot survive there. Fueled by fertilizer runoff from farms along the Mississippi River – largely in Iowa – the occurrence is devastating to the ecology and economy of the region.
Setting the table for a day of talks exploring the interplay between science, law, and policy, Kantner stressed the need for policy solutions that reflect reality.
“You can only develop effective government approaches… if they truly reflect the science,” he said.
Bringing together students, alumni, & the community
Throughout the day, speakers delved into nitrogen pollution – and possible solutions – through a variety of lenses, including recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Sackett v. EPA, which affect enforcement of water protections, international agreements like the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the various, often contrasting approaches of states like Iowa and Illinois.
Alumna Angela Xu ’23, who is Municipal Engagement Manager with the Illinois Environmental Council, works on clean energy and water initiatives. She said despite the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s goal of reducing nitrogen pollution in waterways by 15 percent by 2025, it has actually increased.
“One response to this issue is to protect our wetlands,” she said. “Wetlands play a crucial role by acting as natural filters, effectively removing excess nitrogen from water bodies, thus helping to mitigate water pollution from agricultural runoff and other sources.”
She noted the state’s major wetlands and smaller aquatic areas near Chicago. Development has cost the state 90 percent of its wetlands, she said, and the lack of protection threatens what remains. Her organization is advocating for legislation that would create long-term protections throughout the state, though it faces headwinds from affected industries.
Other presenters looked at how policy makers are tackling the problem in the Chesapeake Bay, Iowa, and New York.
This event also gave Stetson Law students an opportunity to present on international agreements on waterway protections that could inform nitrogen pollution policy, including the Montreal Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
A lunchtime keynote and Foreman Biodiversity Lecture featured the Orange County Environmental Protection Division’s Tim Hull, who talked about the Central Florida county’s efforts to protect waterways despite rapid population growth.
The event culminated with a screening of A Splash of Color: Getting Black in the Water, a film showcasing efforts of Black water advocates in the Tampa Bay region.
Symposium Explores Nitrogen Pollution & Policy Solutions
The Nitrogen Pollution & Solutions Symposium brought a a full house on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
It may not grab headlines like climate change or forever chemicals, but nitrogen pollution threatens our air, water, and public health.
On Monday, Stetson, supported by a grant from BlueGAP and the National Science Foundation, hosted a day of conversation about the issue and how to address it. The event brought scientists, nonprofit managers, legal professionals, policy makers, academics, and students together to talk about its sources, impacts, solutions, and what (and who) stands in the way of fighting it.
As the day began, Law Professor and Stetson Institute for Biodiversity Law & Policy Director Royal Gardner talked about what makes nitrogen pollution a unique problem.
“I really don’t need to tell this audience that nitrogen is one of the building blocks of life; a necessary nutrient for agricultural production,” he said. “Yet in some forms and in some places, nitrogen is a pollutant. Indeed, nitrous oxide is considered to be a super-pollutant, as it is both an ozone-depleting substance and a greenhouse gas. Nitrogen fertilizer runs off of agricultural fields and that harms water quality; contributes to harmful algal blooms.” He added that nitrogen pollution has “particular salience” for Floridians, whose lives are affected by increased hurricane activity and intensity due to warming seas as well as blue green-algae and red tide outbreaks caused or exacerbated by nutrient pollution.
Examining a lesser-known challenge
Referring to nitrogen pollution as a “wicked problem,” New York University Professor and Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative Dr. David Kantner pointed out that what separates the global nitrogen pollution problem is that, unlike CFCs or DDT, it is not something we can simply stop using.
“There is no world where you ban nitrogen,” he said. “It is impossible. We rely on it. Not just the natural world, but the human world; the global food system that we depend on.”
About a century ago, he said, scientists combined nitrogen and hydrogen to create ammonium, which made nitrogen more easily absorbed by crops. The synthetic fertilizer products that resulted made industrial-scale agriculture possible, but not without consequences.
As it is routinely over-applied to crops, the excess nitrogen pollutes our air and runs off into waterways. The same nutrient bioavailability that helps crops grow also fosters harmful algae growth in the water – including the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area the size of New Jersey so devoid of oxygen that marine life cannot survive there. Fueled by fertilizer runoff from farms along the Mississippi River – largely in Iowa – the occurrence is devastating to the ecology and economy of the region.
Setting the table for a day of talks exploring the interplay between science, law, and policy, Kantner stressed the need for policy solutions that reflect reality.
“You can only develop effective government approaches… if they truly reflect the science,” he said.
Bringing together students, alumni, & the community
Throughout the day, speakers delved into nitrogen pollution – and possible solutions – through a variety of lenses, including recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Sackett v. EPA, which affect enforcement of water protections, international agreements like the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the various, often contrasting approaches of states like Iowa and Illinois.
Alumna Angela Xu ’23, who is Municipal Engagement Manager with the Illinois Environmental Council, works on clean energy and water initiatives. She said despite the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s goal of reducing nitrogen pollution in waterways by 15 percent by 2025, it has actually increased.
“One response to this issue is to protect our wetlands,” she said. “Wetlands play a crucial role by acting as natural filters, effectively removing excess nitrogen from water bodies, thus helping to mitigate water pollution from agricultural runoff and other sources.”
She noted the state’s major wetlands and smaller aquatic areas near Chicago. Development has cost the state 90 percent of its wetlands, she said, and the lack of protection threatens what remains. Her organization is advocating for legislation that would create long-term protections throughout the state, though it faces headwinds from affected industries.
Other presenters looked at how policy makers are tackling the problem in the Chesapeake Bay, Iowa, and New York.
This event also gave Stetson Law students an opportunity to present on international agreements on waterway protections that could inform nitrogen pollution policy, including the Montreal Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
A lunchtime keynote and Foreman Biodiversity Lecture featured the Orange County Environmental Protection Division’s Tim Hull, who talked about the Central Florida county’s efforts to protect waterways despite rapid population growth.
The event culminated with a screening of A Splash of Color: Getting Black in the Water, a film showcasing efforts of Black water advocates in the Tampa Bay region.
The value of practical experience
The symposium kicked off with remarks from Stetson Law Dean D. Benjamin Barros, who said bringing together students, alumni, and professionals in such a setting reflects the College’s commitment to connecting students with real-world experiences and opportunities.
“Here at Stetson, one of the things we do better than many law schools is train students for practice in a very real-world setting,” he said. “In the environmental space, we have two organizations, the Jacobs Clinic for Democracy and the Environment, led by Professor Jaclyn Lopez, and the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, led by Professor Gardner that do really good work in this area.”
Original source can be found here.