In Washington, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced four additional Biomass Crop Assistance Program project areas to promote the cultivation of crops that can be processed into renewable energy. Acreage in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania will be designated to grow giant miscanthus, a sterile hybrid warm-season grass that can be converted into energy to be […]
In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association is tipping that the United States Senate will schedule another vote on the Coburn Amendment, to immediately repeal the ethanol tax credit (VEETC), and at the same time have a vote on the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act offered by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Under […]
In Washington, on a cloture vote in the Senate to proceed to an amendment that would end the current ethanol tax incentive immediately, Senator Coburn’s amendment lost 40-59, falling 20 votes short of the sixty votes needed to obtain cloture. Why did the industry oppose the Coburn amendment? Critics of biofuels have described its leaders as “living off […]
In Washington, Friends of the Earth has released a new TV ad called “No Sense” in conjunction with Taxpayers for Common Sense asking Republican presidential candidates to not support continuing subsidies for corn ethanol ahead of a planned Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire. The ad can be viewed here.
Last week, the Digest ran “E15 Ethanol: bridge to tomorrow, or bridge to nowhere?” in which we criticized the focus on E15 ethanol blending. As a counterpoint, we invited Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy and a Digest columnist, to present an opposing view on E15 and look at the merits of the effort to […]
In Washington, President Obama announced the formation of the White House Rural Council, to coordinate programs across government to encourage public-private partnerships to promote further economic prosperity and quality of life in rural communities nationwide. Chaired by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the Council will be responsible for providing recommendations for investment in rural areas […]
In Tennessee, the Nashville Metro Council has expanded its free downtown parking plan for “clean technology” vehicles powered by electricity, gas-electric hybrids or biofuels because it was felt that not enough people would be able to afford those vehicles, making the policy more or less useless. The free parking is being extended to drivers who […]
In the Netherlands, the Minister of Infrastructure and Environment has published decrees further outlining how to implement the Renewable Energy Directive including a 4.25% renewable energy in transport mandate for 2011 and 4.5% for 2012, 5% in 2013 and 5.5% in 2014 with targets to be set in 2014 to see how to reach the […]
In Maine, State Rep. Beth O’Connor (R-Berwick) won passage of a “Resolve, To Study Motor Fuel and Fuel Additives and To Explore Alternatives to Ethanol Motor Fuel” – in the Main State House on May 26 on a 92-56 vote, after an impassioned floor speech in which she claimed that it takes nearly twice as […]
By Ron Miller Managing Director and co-founder of Prisma Advisors, LLC former CEO, Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc. “Hunger, despair for millions” reads the headline in a national newspaper looking to link high food prices with the growth of renewable fuels. Anti-ethanol factions oftentimes cite food costs in the ongoing food versus fuel debate but they […]
