Jim Ryun: “President Bush has outlined what I think is a sound energy policy that is both forward thinking and sensible, but…”

“President Bush has outlined what I think is a sound energy policy that is both forward thinking and sensible, but opponents of his plan sound like a broken record, accusing the President of being anti-environment. The assertion that we must choose between sound energy policy and healthy environment is simply not true. As an example, we need to look no further than the clean air standards set up in the early nineties. Regulations for fuel resulted in refineries using additives that produced clean air, but polluted the groundwater. That is, until the development of ethanol. Ethanol is a biofuel that is produced from corn and grain sorghum. It protects our quality of air by reducing tailpipe emissions and greenhouse emissions. And as an added bonus, ethanol can provide help for our economy, especially our American farmers, and not for OPEC. I, for one, would rather depend upon the good graces of a Kansas farmer than foreign oil producers. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the President's sound energy policy.”