Need
for RFS Highlighted in NCGA Testimony to House Subcommittee (5-6-04)
In testimony today before
the House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Enterprise, Agriculture
and Technology, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) member Duane
Adams urged lawmakers to expeditiously pass a national energy policy
that includes a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
Adams, who chairs NCGA’s
Ethanol Committee, also addressed the subcommittee on the importance
of the ethanol industry to rural development.
“No other energy
source has doubled its production in the past three years,”
he said. “There was virtually no ethanol used in California
two years ago and now the ethanol industry supplies 8 percent of the
gasoline supply in the state – a total of 900 million gallons
per year. The contribution of this domestically produced renewable
fuel is being felt at the pump across the country.”
The subcommittee hearing
was held to gather information on the positive impact renewable fuels
have on the nation’s economy and energy security. The subcommittee
is investigating what can be done to increase domestic production
of renewable energy sources. Adams and other witnesses said maximizing
the usage of renewable fuels will help to decrease gasoline and oil
prices, thus benefiting small business owners, farmers and American
consumers.
“The true success
of ethanol is best measured in the benefits to rural America,”
the Minnesota farmer said. “The ethanol plant is increasingly
in the hands of farmer-owned co-ops. These plants bring good jobs
to small rural communities that struggle to keep young people. A 40-million-gallon
(per year) plant will provide more than 40 full-time permanent jobs.
They keep schools, hospitals and many businesses open.”
Adams told the panel farmers
have become not only the producers of corn and ethanol, but marketers
of energy. He said producers are getting more of their income from
value-added sources and less from farm programs. Ethanol can claim
to be the primary reason the federal farm program will save $2 billion
this fiscal year, Adams added.
Adams ended his testimony
with a simple and blunt conclusion: “We farmers are looking
at you to quit bickering and do this nation’s business. Our
country needs an energy policy and we expect you to deliver.”
The complete testimony
can be found on the NCGA website at www.ncga.com.