Washington, D.C — Growth Energy, a coalition of America’s ethanol supporters, today urged Congressional support of an amendment authored by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, to address a misguided rule, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which would devastate the nation’s ability to make domestic biofuels and guarantee a long-term monopoly on the automotive fuel market by the oil industry.
“If the EPA goes ahead with this lopsided rule, it will penalize domestic production of biofuels like ethanol. And U.S.-made ethanol is the only existing alternative we have to foreign oil. It creates jobs, enhances our national and economic security, and cuts greenhouses gases. Senator Harkin’s amendment deserves to be passed by the Congress. Senator Harkin’s legislation is rooted in logic and fact – two things that are lacking from the EPA’s proposed rule,” said Tom Buis, Chief Executive Officer of Growth Energy.
Specifically, the Harkin amendment to the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill would prohibit the use of funds by the EPA to include international Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) theories in the implementation of the renewable fuel program, in order to seek a full debate in the Congress on ILUC theory. The EPA seeks to measure the impact of ILUC theoretically linked to biofuels production, despite the lack of scientific consensus on how ILUC could be accurately measured, and significant criticism of the ILUC theory in the scientific community.
“The theory of Indirect Land Use Change has never been debated in the Congress. It has never been accepted as the consensus of the scientific community. The EPA should not be seeking to use ILUC to regulate an entire industry, especially one like ethanol that has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, make our nation more energy independent, and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Buis said. “If we’re going to theorize the indirect land use changes of fuel, the EPA should not single out biofuels – but should include the sources of all transportation fuels, including emissions from coal-fired power plants for plug-in cars, Persian Gulf oil tankers and tar-sand extraction.”
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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.