NCGA
Hails Energy Conference for Setting Renewable Fuels Standard at
7.5 Billion Gallons (7-26-05)
National Corn
Growers Association (NCGA) President Leon Corzine today called the
House-Senate energy conference committee inclusion of a 7.5-billion
gallon Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in its final report the most
significant step yet in securing the use of domestically produced
fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The report gives
the nod to 7.5-billion gallons of ethanol production by 2012. The
RFS will begin at 4 billion gallons in 2006, increasing to 7.5 billion
gallons by 2012. NCGA has advocated environmentally friendly ethanol
as a means of decreasing the nation’s dangerous dependence
on foreign energy sources, reducing greenhouse gases and aiding
in reducing gasoline prices.
“Conference
chairmen Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), and ranking
members Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.)
are to be commended for the extraordinary time, energy and thoughtfulness
they put into this final conference report over the last few weeks,”
said Corzine. “Their work has been second to none, and corn
growers are grateful for their leadership and respectful of the
difficult decisions and compromises they have made.”
The ethanol
industry is one of the most successful and fastest growing value-added
markets for farmers, he said. “The RFS included in the final
conference report is a 50 percent increase over where we were last
year,” Corzine said. “A 7.5 billion gallon RFS gives
our ethanol industry and our producers the assurance of continued
growth in the industry. The real winners in the expanded use of
renewable fuels in our energy supply are the U.S. consumer and the
nation as a whole. It is a win for our national security, it is
a win for our environment and it is a win for the economic viability
of our Rural America and our nation.”
The conference report also includes a 12-month credit trading program,
cellulosic ethanol provisions and boutique fuels provisions.
The report now
moves to full the House and Senate where votes are expected later
this week.