May 06, 2010
Culver Tells Obama about Need to Raise Ethanol Blend Limit (Wallaces Farmer)
The focus was on wind energy during President Barack Obama's tour of the Siemens Energy turbine manufacturing plant at Ft. Madison, Iowa, on April 27. But Iowa Governor Chet Culver had another energy source on his mind.
Before Obama's tour, Culver briefly discussed with the president the need for Congress to break through the ethanol "blend wall." Currently, the federal government only allows up to 10% ethanol to be blended with gasoline and used in non-flex fuel vehicles nationwide. But ethanol industry supporters say vehicles can run safely with a 15% blend, and they want the limit raised. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to make a decision on the blending rate sometime this summer.
"The president and I had a short, yet fruitful discussion," says Culver. "The renewable fuels industry is vitally important to the state of Iowa, creating thousands of jobs while helping our agriculture base and rural life throughout Iowa. The president acknowledged our concerns, and I look forward to working with him and his administration to give consumers more options at the pump and help grow America's biofuels industry."
Emphasized need to restore biodiesel tax credit, extend ethanol credit
Culver also discussed with Obama the need to extend the ethanol tax credit that is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. And Culver told Obama of the need to restore the biodiesel tax credit which Congress let expire at the end of 2009.
On the second day of his tour, Obama made stops in Missouri and Illinois. He visited an ethanol plant at Macon, Mo. "Homegrown biofuels are a key part of our strategy for a clean energy future," he told a crowd of farmers, plant workers, community members and local business owners at the Poet LLC ethanol plant...
