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Daily News Update, Nov. 30, 2007
Cattlemen amplify opposition to Energy Bill options
When
Congress returns to Washington next week, energy legislation will
likely take the spotlight. With the Senate shelving the Farm Bill
for the time being, cattle producers are again focused on arguing
for a market-based approach to renewable fuels policy while
discussions continue regarding an increase in the mandate for feed
grain-based ethanol.
In June of
this year, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007,
which mandates production of
36 billion gallons of
renewable fuels by 2022 with
15 billion
gallons of grain-based fuel produced by 2015. The House version, passed
later in the summer, contains no increase to the Renewable Fuel Standard
(RFS).
However, House and Senate
leaders are reportedly discussing alternative language that would result
in a bill requiring 20.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2015,
with 15 billion gallons produced from grains and 5.5 billion gallons of
advanced biofuels.
" If
these are the new numbers being kicked around on Capitol Hill, they
don't really represent any improvement to the existing Senate language,"
says Jason Jordan, NCBA manager of legislative affairs. "For cattlemen,
any increase to the RFS mandate would be too much because renewable
fuels production should be market driven, not government driven."
The current
RFS calls for the production of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. NCBA member
policy is specifically opposed to increasing the government mandate.
" The
uncertainty of year-to-year corn crop yields creates a concern for
everyone – not just livestock feeders," says NCBA Chief Economist Gregg
Doud. "If the government mandates an unrealistic amount of grain-based
ethanol production, what happens if corn supplies are not sufficient to
meet the food, feed and fuel demand? Everyone would suffer from this
short-sighted approach to energy policy."
NCBA will be urging for a
final package that does not include an increased RFS. The existing RFS,
enacted in 2005 and extending through 2012, has already spurred rapid
development in the renewable fuels industry.
"Cattlemen are
simply asking for the ability to compete for a bushel of corn on a level
playing field," says Doud. "Subsidized ethanol production and mandated
demand through an inflated RFS – when the infrastructure is just now
developing – are a recipe for disaster when there's a short corn crop."
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