|
Corn Growers Reply to California
Lawsuit (8-13-01)
The
National Corn Grower Association (NCGA) leaders are disappointed by
California's lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The lawsuit, filed Friday afternoon in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco, calls on the agency to put aside rules requiring
ethanol to be added to California's gasoline to meet the standards of
the 1990 Clean Air Act.
"California's
request for special exemption from the law has been rejected on three
fronts," noted Lee Klein, president of NCGA and a farmer from Battle
Creek, Neb. "The Clinton Administration didn't grant the waiver;
the U.S. EPA under the Bush Administration denied the waiver request
because it lacked the scientific basis; and the will of the people of
the United States, as expressed in the recent House of Representatives
vote of 300 to 125, rejected the request for exemption from the law.
"It
is unfortunate that the California state officials now seek to do in
the courts what they could not do through politics and policy,"
Klein added.
"However,
we expect that Californians will recognize the environmental and economic
benefits of the renewable energy source, ethanol. Corn growers produce
the major raw material of ethanol, corn, and own much of the ethanol
production. In these roles we are committed to providing a key component
of energy security for the entire United States."
Last
reviewed August 13, 2001
|