GOP Senators Want Waiver of Biofuels Mandate
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona and 23
other Republican senators have asked EPA Administrator Stephen L.
Johnson to consider waiving a requirement in last year=92s energy law
mandating a fivefold increase in U.S. biofuel production.
In their letter Friday, the lawmakers cited growing concerns that the
biofuel mandate contributes to soaring food costs.
=93American families are feeling the financial strain of these food-to-
fuel mandates in the grocery aisle and are growing concerned about the
emerging environmental concerns of growing corn-based ethanol,=94 the
senators wrote. =93It is essential for the EPA to respond quickly to the
consequences of these mandates. Congress made the mandates in the
[2007 energy law] different from existing mandates to provide
flexibility and to encourage innovation in advanced and cellulosic
fuels. We believe today=92s cir***stances merit the use of this
flexibility.=94
The 2007 energy law required 36 billion gallons of biofuels be
produced annually by 2022. Of that, no more than 15 billion gallons
may come from corn-based ethanol. That was a major ramp-up from the
former mandate, enacted in 2005, which required that 7.5 billion
gallons be produced annually by 2012.
Last year, ethanol production totaled 6.5 billion gallons, all of it
from corn.
Critics of the higher mandate say increased production of ethanol is
driving up the price of corn and tightening the supply available for
animal feed or human consumption. Sup****ters note that it=92s unlikely
to be contributing to high food prices, since it mostly has not been
implemented.
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=93To date, no convincing evidence for AGW
(anthropogenic global warming) has been
discovered. And recent global climate
behavior is not consistent with AGW model
predictions.=94
*Dr. Richard Courtney, a UN IPCC expert
reviewer and a UK-based climate and
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