RFA Ready to Move on Following Senate Vote
Bill is unlikely to make it to President's desk.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jun 21, 2011
The Renewable Fuels Association voiced its disappointment in the shortsightedness of the vote to kill the VEETC ethanol support program, particularly given the same body voted less than one month ago to preserve billions of dollars in taxpayer handouts to the oil industry. But RFA agrees with Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that the underlying bill to which this amendment is attached is unlikely to make it to the President's desk and called the vote a freebie with no real consequences.
According to RFA, with this theater now in the past the ethanol industry stands ready to work with the Senate, House and the Obama Administration to enact thoughtful policies that responsibly address fiscal concerns while moving American ethanol production forward. RFA believes America needs an energy agenda that embraces the energy technologies of the future, not the energy politics of the past.
RFA supports legislation like that proposed by Senators John Thune, R-S.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that achieves immediate budget savings, pays down the federal debt by $1 billion and continues the expansion and evolution of America's ethanol industry.
The Advanced Ethanol Council agrees that the vote really didn't mean much. AEC Executive Director Brooke Coleman says last week's debate over ethanol is another case of politics over substance that once again distracts from an honest and comprehensive discussion about America's energy future. With this song and dance now over he says advanced and cellulosic ethanol producers will continue to work with Senators to find common ground on a forward-looking and productive new way to promote a fuel that is already an important part of the U.S. energy portfolio and has a very bright future.
Coleman promised his organization would work to move a proposal to the President's desk that expands the market for ethanol and expedites the commercialization of promising new ethanol technologies and fuels.
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Tagged: ethanol, cellulosic ethanol
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