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NCGA
Urges California's Gov. Davis to Fulfill Commitment and Open Doors for
Ethanol (1-18-01)
Indecision
by California Gov. Gray Davis has prompted National Corn Growers Association
(NCGA) President Tim Hume to write Davis a letter urging him to keep
his commitment to eliminate MTBE from California gasoline by Jan. 1,
2003.
"When
you originally made that commitment, you and members of your Administration
expressed the desire to eliminate MTBE at the earliest date possible
because of the negative impact using MTBE was having on water quality
in California," said Hume, a farmer from Walsh, Colo. "Today,
MTBE is still being used in the overwhelming majority of California
gasoline and drinking water supplies in California continue to be contaminated;
this has not changed. What has changed is the clear and undeniable existence
of a real alternative to MTBE, ethanol."
Hume
noted that, following Davis' pledge to eliminate MTBE, many in California
questioned the ability of the ethanol industry to meet the needs of
California refiners with adequate supplies of ethanol. Because of these
doubts, he said, California filed for a waiver from the federal reformulated
gasoline oxygen requirement. EPA has denied that waiver request.
"However,
while California invested significant resources in your waiver request,
corn farmers invested their resources in new ethanol production by becoming
members of ethanol cooperatives," Hume continued. "In fact,
most of the new capacity being built to meet the new demand anticipated
from new market opportunities like California are farmer-owned cooperatives."
Hume
cited a recent report by the Renewable Fuels Association that said 10
new ethanol plants have opened in the United States, producing an additional
550 million gallons ethanol annually, and 18 more plants that will add
another 470 million gallons of capacity are under construction.
"This
unprecedented investment by farmers is in direct response to the challenge
made by you and members of your Administration when you suggested that
ethanol was not a viable alternative to MTBE because enough was not
being produced," Hume concluded, once again urging Davis to fulfill
his commitment. "The investments of many of our members will be
affected by your decision."
Last reviewed
January 18, 2002
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