Tom Harkin: “today I am introducing the Agricultural Cooperative Renewable Fuel Stations Act of 2006. This legislation closes a gap…”

“today I am introducing the Agricultural Cooperative Renewable Fuel Stations Act of 2006. This legislation closes a gap in the existing tax incentive for installing alternative refueling stations. The bill extends the existing alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit to patrons of agricultural cooperatives. Our continued dependence on foreign oil is extremely worrisome. Today, about 60 percent of our oil comes from overseas. Last year, Americans imported almost 5 billion barrels of oil. Our Nation's overreliance on oil-derived gasoline poses a threat to National security and places a heavy economic burden on the citizens of our Nation. In addition, this heavy dependence on oil negatively impacts the environment. That is why Senator Lugar and I, with strong bipartisan support, have pushed to replace foreign oil with more home-grown biofuels and biobased products. We recently introduced the Biofuels Security Act to aggressively ramp up the production and use of ethanol and biodiesel, ensure greater E-85 availability as well as what are known as flex-fuel cars, those that can run on E-85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Last year I authored critically important biomass research, development and deployment provisions to the energy bill. This new measure complements such efforts. Cooperatives play an important role in the marketing of agricultural products.…”