Chuck Grassley: “I come to the floor to rebut the scapegoating of ethanol, which is part of the food versus fuel debate. I do not do it…”

“I come to the floor to rebut the scapegoating of ethanol, which is part of the food versus fuel debate. I do not do it for a one-way conversation. I hope I can encourage conversation on this subject among my colleagues so we can look at this from a scientific and economic point of view and avoid scapegoating. For almost 30 years, I have been leading an effort with many of my colleagues to promote policies to grow a domestic renewable fuels industry. We have promoted homegrown renewable fuels as a way to lessen our dependance on foreign oil and to improve our air quality. For all these years, we have hardly heard anything negative about these policies. Now, ethanol and other biofuels are being made a scapegoat for a whole variety of problems. Never before in 30 years has the virtuous benefits of ethanol and renewable fuels been so questioned and so criticized. The problem is, none of these criticisms are based on sound science, sound economics, or for that matter even common sense.”