BioFuels Journal

By Arvin Donley, Grain Journal

Decatur, IL--Regardless who wins the presidential election in November, the ethanol industry is sure to have a friend in the White House, according to Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President Bob Dinneen.

"President Bush has absolutely been the most pro-ethanol president we've ever had," said Dinneen, who spoke at a Chamber of Commerce Ag Cafe luncheon on Tuesday in Decatur, IL, home of the nation's leading ethanol producer, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM).

Speaking to an audience that included ADM President and CEO G. Allen Andreas, Dinneen also praised Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for his desire to increase ethanol production in the United States.

Dinneen noted that Kerry's recently released energy plan calls for extending the ethanol tax incentives to 2020 and 20 billion gallons of ethanol usage over that time frame.

And he notes that influential congressional leaders from both parties such as Tom Daschle, D-SD, and Dennis Hastert, R-IL, are unwavering supporters of the ethanol industry.

"It's not a bad thing that we have such strong bipartisan support for our fuel," Dinneen said.

So why has Congress failed to pass legislation that will increase ethanol production and usage?

Dinneen says it's because the Renewable Fuels Standard, which proposes to triple ethanol production by the year 2010, is part of a larger Energy Bill that contains elements that the two parties disagree on.

"If the Renewable Fuels Standard itself was allowed to move forward, it would be passed overwhelmingly," he said.

Given the current political divide that exists between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, Dinneen says he doesn't foresee any ethanol-friendly legislation being considered until after the hotly-contested presidential race is decided in November.

"I've worked in Washington, DC for 25 years, and I've never seen Congress more dysfunctional than it is now," Dinneen said. "The Energy Bill is a perfect example of that."

Despite the political gridlock, ethanol has continued to become a larger player in the fuel industry. Dinneen noted that:

> Ethanol-blended fuel makes up 30% of gasoline marketed in the United States.

> The ethanol industry, having doubled its production capacity since 2001, is expected to produce 3.5 billion gallons of the renewable fuel in 2004.

> A total of 17 states have banned MTBE, a petroleum-based fuel additive, and are replacing it with ethanol, considered a more environmentally-friendly alternative.

He said RFA, a Washington, DC-based political lobbying organization for the ethanol industry, anticipates ethanol usage to increase significantly in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Boston in the near future, as more states ban MTBE.

Dinneen, who will be in West Burlington, IA on Saturday at a ceremony celebrating the opening of the nation's 81st ethanol plant, said one way to measure the renewable fuel's impact is to consider how it would affect the market if it suddenly was unavailable.

"If you took the 3.5 billion gallons of ethanol out of production in the United States right now, the price of gas would increase by 30 cents per gallon," he said.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• Renewable Fuels Association

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