LAS VEGAS – General Wesley Clark (Ret.), co-chairman of Growth Energy, today introduced a renewable fuels road map designed to put the nation on track to create more jobs, reduce emissions and help make our nation more energy independent. The principles outlined in Growth Energy’s road map — which Clark announced at the National Clean Energy Summit hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the progressive think-tank Center for American Progress Action Fund –would create and support 1.3 million green collar jobs by 2022.
The five main points of the road map include:
- Lift the arbitrary regulatory cap. This will create a more competitive environment and give consumers greater fuel choice.
- Build an alternative fuel infrastructure. This can be done by increasing the number and locations of flex fuel pumping stations and supporting the construction of biofuel pipelines.
- Require all vehicles sold to be Flex Fuel Vehicles.
- Strengthen market transparency. This will give Americans more information about the hidden costs of foreign oil and its carbon content.
- Adopt a national Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
“Ethanol is the alternative we have today. It’s here right now. Putting more American-made ethanol into American fuel tanks is a common sense way to immediately create green collar jobs while strengthening our national, energy, and economic security,” said General Clark. “This road map is a guide to speed up the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol, which is almost 90 percent better for the environment than gasoline. If we act on this road map today, we can more than double the number of biofuels jobs to 1.3 million.”
“We need to change paths, because the one we’re on right now is not sustainable. Americans transfer half-a-trillion dollars to other nations every year to pay for oil in addition to the $50 billion in tax dollars that are spent every year to protect Middle East oil supply lanes,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. “We don’t have to be addicted to foreign oil. We don’t have to allow the potentially devastating climate change. We have a viable alternative today in ethanol, which is a low-carbon renewable fuel. If we want a low-carbon society, we have to use low-carbon fuels. If we increase production of homegrown ethanol, it will point our nation in the right direction for job growth, energy independence, and a cleaner environment.”
In 2008 alone, the U.S. ethanol industry created and supported more than 494,000 green jobs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 60 million tons, and eliminated the need to import more than 300 million barrels of gasoline, often from volatile and unfriendly regions of the world.
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.