Administration Commends Agriculture
Posted: May 6, 2009
Yesterday’s press conference with three members of the Obama cabinet about the administration’s commitment to biofuels offered some refreshingly encouraging words for our nation’s agricultural industry.
Probably the best words of praise came from Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who noted that agriculture is one of the nation’s greatest resources for energy. “We have incredible capacity not only to grow the food we need and to have dynamic exports, we can also grow a considerable amount of energy,” said Chu. (Take that, fuel versus foodies!)
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson also noted the important role agriculture has in supplying the nation’s energy needs. “In the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), Congress recognized the need for a homegrown fuel source,” said Jackson. “Every year, we send billions of dollars overseas, often to unfriendly places. With renewable fuels, we can send those billions to rural and farming communities, people who need help most in these challenging economic times.”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is supposed to say nice things about agriculture, but we’ll give him some credit for saying them anyway. It was especially encouraging that he got top billing in yesterday’s press conference, which was really about the release of EPA’s proposed rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard. It indicates that the Obama administration really does recognize the critical role agriculture plays in the biofuels industry, as Vilsack stated in his comments. “This reflects President Obama’s commitment to rural America. It merges and marries together rural economic development with agriculture to create clean jobs and clean opportunity. It is a firm commitment in making this industry an integral part of this new 21st century American economy,” said Vilsack. “It provides additional income opportunities for American farmers and ranchers, jobs for those who live in rural communities and energy security for every single American.”
Listen to the press conference here: