Dianne Feinstein: “Yes. The Senator mentioned my support of a renewable portfolio standard. Indeed, I do support a renewable portfolio…”

“Yes. The Senator mentioned my support of a renewable portfolio standard. Indeed, I do support a renewable portfolio standard. But the renewable portfolio standard is essentially a percentage requirement that a State would use of renewable fuels, such as wind, solar, biomass, et cetera. And California has elected to provide that 10 percent of its portfolio should be in wind, solar, biomass, et cetera. I have supported that requirement in this amendment as well, and California is able to do it, and has been doing it. I think that is an extraordinarily positive thing. I have great concerns about ethanol because I do not think all of the science has been completed on ethanol. We know ethanol produces a benzene plume which can break away in the ground if the fuel leaks from an underground--the minority leader is smiling, but I wonder if this same discussion took place when MTBE was introduced and people thought it was going to be just fine. It has polluted about 20,000 wells in California and has shown to have a significant hazard. Now, I think to dismiss this as being wonderful for the environment is not quite correct because we know it reduces some components, but we also know it increases other components in the air that produce smog and ozone. And California has two of the most difficult nonattainment regions in the United States, one of them being the Los Angeles area, the other being the Fresno area.”