Nine potential Republican presidential candidates were asked their opinions on various agricultural issues at the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines on Saturday. Comments made by at the event by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki, …
Leno Anti-Ethanol Rant Smells Like BO
This picture from an April 2008 Popular Mechanics article written by former Tonight Show host Jay Leno shows him with a 2006 Corvette Z06 that he said “has a top speed of 208 mph and runs on a homegrown alternative to gasoline - cleaner burning E85 ethanol.” In this interview with DomesticFuel in 2007, Leno talks about biodiesel specifically but …
EPA Official Apologizes to Ethanol Industry
Last year at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, EPA’s Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality told the ethanol industry that the agency intended to finalize the volume requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by the end of spring 2014. As everyone knows that never happened and at the 2015 National Ethanol Conference in Dallas last …
A Billion Gallons of Ethanol from One Plant
Golden Grain Energy in Mason City, Iowa is celebrating the production of its one billionth gallon of ethanol this month. That’s a lot of ethanol over the course of ten years from a plant with a nameplate capacity of 115 million gallons per year. Nameplate means they are capable of producing that much per year, and often that goal is …
RFS for President!
The 2016 presidential campaign is starting to percolate and in Iowa the biofuels industry is making the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) their candidate. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad last week announced a major new bi-partisan campaign called America’s Renewable Future that will promote the RFS to both candidates and caucus-goes for the 2016 Iowa Presidential caucuses. “I’m very passionate about the …
If It Looks Like Big Oil, and Walks Like Big Oil, It’s Probably…Big Oil
A story in today’s New York Times cites a new study by the World Resource Institute that attempts to discredit the significant and increasing contributions of biofuels to meet the world’s energy needs. On close inspection two things become abundantly clear. First the so-called “new” study is nothing but the same old stuff trotted out by the anti-ethanol crowd nearly …
Enjoy the Cheap Gas Ride
Not to sound like a lunatic but it may be entirely possible, maybe even likely, the American public will be begging for a return to $3.60 gas in the near future. I know it sounds crazy, but if you are following the public debate you can already see the discussion heating up to argue the true implications of today’s bargain …
Ag Secretary Stresses Biofuels Support at AFBF
Farmers from around the country had a chance to ask Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack questions during an informal town hall-style meeting at the American Farm Bureau convention this week in San Diego. The last question he took was from a South Dakota farmer who asked about continuation of strong biofuels policy in the United States. Vilsack detailed his continued support …
Big Oil Wants It Both Ways
Falling gas prices have dominated news coverage over recent months. From “price at the pump” reports to longer diatribes over the economic and political impacts of falling oil prices, media outlets of all genres present a wide array of viewpoints on the topic. Not surprisingly, this puts the American Petroleum Institute in the spotlight once again as eager journalists inquire …
Freedom Isn’t Free
While we often hear politicians declare that they know “the greatest problem of our time,” few have the courage to face what really confronts us- a finite supply of oil. Yes, today, oil is cheap. American consumers do not currently fork out the incredible sum to which they have become accustomed. Despite the momentary reprieve, oil remains of incredible importance …