Reactions
Industry groups – including the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the National Farmers Union, and Growth Energy, an ethanol producers organization – cheered the new inter-agency working group, saying it underscores the administration's support for biofuels.
"With the establishment of this working group by the president, America has taken an important step toward sustainability, energy security and economic vitality," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.
Buis also cheered EPA for seeking peer review of agency methods for assessing indirect land-use changes, although he attacked use of the metric at all.
"Indirect land-use change theory uses speculative models and incorrect assumptions in an attempt to blame American farmers for deforestation in Brazil," he said.
Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Defense Council praised EPA for releasing a proposed rule that considers the land-use change emissions.
"EPA has taken an important step toward getting biofuels right," said Nathanael Greene, the group's director of renewable energy policy. "Our economy and our planet can't afford to burn fuels that will only create more pollution, but through innovation we can develop renewable fuels that are better than oil and will never run out."
Reprinted from Greenwire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
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Add CommentAmerica will only recover from its present dire situation when it accepts that the old ultraliberal economic model is unviable and that an entirely new economy, based on durability is accepted by its people. This will involve defining new objectives and adopting a new way of life. And what is true for America is true for the entire world. A war on waste...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBiofuels seem to me to be a "quick fix" solution to a bigger problem. I don't like it, i don't agree with it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@eco-steve
I agree that we need an entirely new economy, but it should NOT be based on money and greed like it has been my entire life.
ethanol is not good stuff. Not only will it drive the cost of food up, but the stuff becomes fairly toxic when it is burned. On top of all that, it isn't profitable to make without significant government subsidies... which makes it unsustainable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf they just thought beyond the combustion engine they might come up with some decent solutions. Even hydrogen is better than this. All electric is even better. Spend money on alternative energy, batteries and capacitors and we'll get somewhere. Don't go trying to turn corn into fuel. Perhaps if we tried to figure out how to recycle waste such as used paper and corn husks into fuel... but I'm sure it would still cost more energy than it produces. Bad idea all around.
My concern is what this will do to food prices, especially on the global market. We've already had a taste of this durning the Bush administration and it failed miserably. Not only was it inefficent and costly to convert biomass into fuel, but it caused food prices to go up 3-7% world wide. 3-7% isn't a huge hit here in the US. People felt it but business continued as normal. Other places aren't nearly as prosperous or stable. This even greater push for biofuels is only going to magnify the problems. Look for wide spread famine in Asia and Africa, soaring prices everywhere, and inevitably many many wars. Thanks to the Obama administration we're about to enter into one of the most unstable times in human existance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGrowing crops to power gas guzzling quasi military vehicles that Americans choose to tarnsport themselves in is very peverse. 1 tank of gas could feed a person for a year. If Obama is serious about change, he needs to move America away from giant gas guzzlers.
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