Reaction to signing of the Energy Bill: A Digest of pertinent commentaries by industry leaders

Don Endres, chairman and CEO of VeraSun Energy Corporation:
“We applaud the work of our leaders in Washington, D.C., for their vision in putting our country on a path toward greater energy diversity and sustainability. The expanded Renewable Fuels Standard will significantly reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil and extend our nation’s fuel stream. At VeraSun, we are committed to meeting the challenges ahead and producing renewable fuels that benefit the environment and our economy.”
“The Renewable Fuels Standard underpins the growth of the industry by providing a clear and positive market signal for investment in new technologies, production, distribution and storage infrastructure. We also believe the demand for ethanol will continue to be driven by market factors as refiners and marketers are economically incented to blend ethanol because of its value as a high-octane, clean-burning fuel component.”

Patricia Woertz, Chairman and CEO, Archer Daniels Midland Company:
“This legislation is an important step towards a stronger, more diverse energy future for our nation and our world. The expansion of the Renewable Fuel Standard recognizes that the promise of tomorrow’s biofuels can only be fully realized by supporting the here-and-now solutions provided by today’s ethanol and biodiesel. ADM is dedicated to continued leadership in the development of renewable biofuels, and is optimistic about the expanded role they will play in improving energy security, strengthening rural economies and helping to improve our environment.”

Bob Dineen, President, Renewable Fuels Association:
“History will look back upon the enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 as the moment America chose a new energy policy path. By coupling increases in vehicle efficiency and renewable fuel use, America is taking the most immediate steps available that will have the greatest impact in securing a more sustainable energy and environmental future. This bill takes historic steps toward a new energy dawn.”

Fortune Magazine:
Andy Karsner (Assistant Secretary of Energy) would have written the bill differently, he told Fortune. He has supported tax credits for the solar and wind power industries – they were eliminated from the legislation, because they were linked to revenues that would have come from repealing of oil-industry tax credits. He also has some doubts about the biofuels mandate, which is massive. But Karsner calls the need for clean energy “the moral imperative of our time” and says federal action is required to develop a long-term, national energy strategy that will stimulate the market forces needed to drive change. “We need disruptive organizational and institutional change,” he says, “…in order to ultimately evolve disruptive technologies at a rate and in a time frame that matters.”

Carl Pope, Executive Director, The Sierra Club:
“This bill is a clean break with the failed energy policies of the past and puts us on the path toward a cleaner, greener energy future.”

John Fox, Homeland Energy:
“I would call this bill a surprise. Even though the bill was stripped of the tax credit extensions available to biofuels, the codification of mandates in an entirely different manner than originally proposed by President Bush will benefit the industry as a whole. It was widely expected that mandates would come (when not if), and I expect that this is just the start. The mandates, by and large, are reasonable and attainable (particularly for biodiesel).”

Andrew Schuyler, Director, Northeast Biofuels Collaborative:
“The 2007 federal energy bill represents a critical first step toward reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. New fuel efficiency standards ensure that U.S. cars and trucks will burn less fuel – saving consumers billions of dollars every year — and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires that different kinds of fuels be utilized as vehicles become more efficient.

“The RFS sends a clear signal that Congress understands that diversified fuel markets will lead to U.S. economic development, more stable gas prices, greater energy security and reduced global warming emissions. While the final energy package does not address tax reform for petroleum companies, which continue to skew energy markets in their favor, this bill is a major step in the right direction.”

Greg Stangl, CEO, Phoenix Energy:
“The Senate bill is a disappointment. The government had an opportunity to lead and could not seem to agree on anything more than supplanting farm subsidies with ethanol subsidies. It would probably be better for our industry if they just ear-marked money for new plants instead of distorting the market through preferential treatment of one technology over all others. This bill could and should have been so much more of an effort to make real progress on diversifying, and strengthening our domestic energy situation while standardizing the regulatory environment. But, I guess the legislators were all in a hurry to get home for the holidays.

“By passing on a more technology independent approach like the federal RPS standard the government has yet again abdicated leadership on the energy issue in favor of the states. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing except that our industry is left to sort navigate the myriad jurisdictions in order to get a projects done. This increased bureaucratic burden simply slows the process of get renewable projects on-line and renewable products into America’s energy supply.

“The government should not be in the business of choosing which technologies succeed or fail but rather set conditions which promote the end goal, an increase in American renewable power. The one-sided subsidies, while a great help to those who get them and to the grant writers, are more likely to slow our industry’s progress and distort the market for renewable power. Long before Silicon Valley was driven on Silicon, it used Germanium. Germanium was certainly a needed stop on the road of progress but a significantly less efficient material. If the Senate had been handing out 36 billion dollar Germanium subsides I wonder if Silicon Valley would be somewhere in Germany or Japan instead of the USA.”

Joe Jobe, CEO, National Biodiesel Board
“We congratulate the House and the Senate for the bipartisan efforts of policymakers who worked together to pass this landmark legislation that will help America depend less on foreign oil and more on clean-burning, domestically produced biodiesel. Biodiesel producers across America stand ready to meet the aggressive renewable goals provided for in this bill.”

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, US House of Representatives:
“This legislation includes an historic increase in fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 – the first such action in 32 years. It makes a major commitment to homegrown biofuels, sending our energy dollars to the Midwest, not the Middle East. It sets our nation on a new course – a new direction for energy security.”

Gregory Wetstone, Senior Director of Governmental & Public Affairs, American Wind Energy Association:
“The passage of energy legislation substantially improving automobile fuel efficiency is an important step forward. However, as Congressional leaders have pointed out in recent days, critical work remains undone. An effective energy policy for the 21st Century must include a strong commitment to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. Promotion of clean, domestic renewable energy through tax incentives and a national renewable electricity standard is crucial to our economy, our national security and the protection of our planet’s climate. We look forward to working with Congress and the President in the New Year to move these vital policies forward.”

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