Dianne Feinstein: “the amendment I call up is a very modest amendment to the renewable fuels provision in the Senate energy bill. It will…”

“the amendment I call up is a very modest amendment to the renewable fuels provision in the Senate energy bill. It will simply delay the implementation of the ethanol mandate for 1 year. That would move it from 2004 to 2005. The purpose of the amendment is to give States more time to make essential infrastructure refinery and storage improvements. This amendment will provide the Senate with the opportunity to make an essential modification to the current bill since virtually every State outside of the Midwest will have to grapple with how to bring in more ethanol over the next several years. Although the ethanol industry says they can meet future demand, virtually every expert has told me that delivery interruptions and shortfalls are likely, if not inevitable, and yet we are tied to bring in a specific amount. In 2004, the Nation will be forced to use 2.3 billion gallons of ethanol. There is insufficient transportation infrastructure to ship large amounts of ethanol to the east and west coasts, and a temporary reprieve is essential to develop the infrastructure, especially when the infrastructure demands for ethanol are far more complex for ethanol than for MTBE. Here is why infrastructure is so important. Moisture causes ethanol to separate from gasoline. So the fuel additive cannot be shipped through traditional gasoline pipelines.”