Dayton thinks America is ready for a biofuels boom, since the bill also contains his idea for a new biodiesel tax credit of up to $1 a gallon.
"The alternative is to do nothing, to make no change," Dayton said. http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/3131380.htm >> or simply tax imported crude, I gotta agree with Todd an his pray for acid drought,$3.50 fuel, I'll take 2.00 fuel, it would no doubt do more for biofuels faster than any legislative attempt to increase production, its all in the consumers pocketbook<< WASHINGTON ÷ Pro-ethanol forces have won every battle in Congress this spring, but with each victory, opposition to the corn-based fuel grows more fierce. Lawmakers from mega-states like California, New York and Texas are furious that Midwestern legislators are forcing them to use a fuel their states don't produce, don't like and don't want. "First the government subsidizes ethanol, and then mandates that everybody use it," fumed Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., during a debate Tuesday. "That sounds more like something out of the Soviet Union than out of the United States of America." Today, the U.S. Senate is expected to pass an energy bill that enthusiastically promotes ethanol. The bill requires tripling the amount of ethanol used nationally and includes Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton's proposal requiring most federal vehicles to use ethanol blends. Like Midwestern senators from both parties, Dayton, a Democrat, thinks it's good policy to promote homegrown energy, so "the money will stay in the country rather than going abroad · (and will) help the environment and boost the prices for corn." Minnesota is the nation's fourth-largest ethanol-producing state, so the bill would be a bonanza for the state's booming ethanol industry. Minnesota's second senator, Paul Wellstone, also a Democrat, called it "a win-win-win": for the environment, for Minnesota farmers and for energy independence. But outside the Corn Belt, the debate has critics complaining anew about the tax breaks, import restrictions and federal mandates that prop up the industry. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., noted that ethanol already gets a 53- cent-a-gallon tax break and enjoys a protective tariff to block foreign imports. She calls it "greedy" to add new requirements to triple ethanol use in 10 years and push ethanol-only policies to clean the air. "This is a massive transfer of wealth out of some states, into other states," she complained. Ninety-eight percent of ethanol comes from the Midwest. Feinstein and other critics couldn't persuade the U.S. Senate, where each state has two senators. But the odds are different in the U.S. House, where California has 52 votes vs. Minnesota's eight and Iowa's five. When the energy bill next goes to a House-Senate conference committee, how will Midwesterners prevail? "We'll have to use our wonderful power of persuasion," said Dayton. "Eleven percent of the gasoline consumed in the entire United States is consumed in California," he said. "If anyone has a stake in shifting reliance from large imported foreign oil ÷ and therefore gasoline ÷ to U.S.-based alternatives, it would be California. They are even more vulnerable to supply disruption and price spikes than anyone else in the country." The Midwest will get help from President Bush. On Wednesday, he toured a South Dakota ethanol plant and said the fuel is "good for our air, it's good for our economy and it's good for our national security." During the Senate debate, Schumer warned that the ethanol provisions would send gasoline prices soaring, prompting "an outcry in the nation" and causing senators to ask sheepishly, "How the heck did this thing pass?" Not so, Dayton said. He cited Minnesota's ethanol experience, where dire predictions of high prices and shortages did not occur. Dayton thinks America is ready for a biofuels boom, since the bill also contains his idea for a new biodiesel tax credit of up to $1 a gallon. "The alternative is to do nothing, to make no change," Dayton said Why are there no ethanol plants in NY,CA? does nothing grow in these states???? Do they not have ports to import "cheap" corn to make ETOH? Does California produce all their own dino-fuel, or did they support building a pipeline down from Alaska. I think there ought to be an added tax on any Ethanol shipped out of a state else the people that paid for these plants are not going to realize the cost savings of local production. Why doesn't CA have enough ethanol plants, the Federal Gov't has been begging and paying for them for a while and its only getting better. Come on "Coasties" put on your thinking caps and figure out ways to make ethanol and biodiesel and get with the program. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
