There’s change afoot in the Chicago Manual of Style, the bible of academic writing, and the favored styledbook of publishers. Thanks for the link, Robert Malchman.  I have been sour on stylebooks since the NYT gave up and allowed “over” as a synonym for “more than.” Another lost cause: only buses and trains are due. Everything else is "because."

I would have earned a style-book ding in Boston, circa 1975 for this sentence: "The crop loss was due to locusts." "The crop loss was because of locusts" would technically be correct according to the stylebook. Better yet, change it to “Locusts caused the crop loss,” the preferred locution, back in the day when there were still standards.