ETHANOL BUSINESS

Obama On Ethanol Boost

March 16th, 2009 | Author: Mr Ethanol

Quad City Times:
President Barack Obama has weighed in on the request to raise the cap on the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline.

Ethanol groups have asked that it be raised from 10 percent to 15 percent. Earlier, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he liked the idea of an increase, though not necessarily to 15 percent.

Yesterday, regional reporters, including one from the Des Moines Register, met with Obama and the president was asked what his position is on the request and whether he’d be involved in the decision.

Here’s what he had to say, according to a White House transcript:

At some point I usually get involved. If it — somebody explained to me that nothing comes to my desk if it’s easy. (Laughter.) It means that somebody else has solved it. And I suspect that this one will be reconciling a lot of different issues.

As you know, I’ve been a supporter of biofuels. I think it is an important ingredient in our overall energy independence. I’ve also said — and I said during the campaign trail in Iowa, in front of farmers — that it was important for us to transition to the next generation of biofuels, that we’ve got to do a much better job of developing cellulosic ethanol, that corn-based ethanol, over time, is not going to provide us with the energy-efficient solutions that are needed…

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