Thomas Mott Osborne: “as many Americans are aware, the Senate has passed a version of the energy bill, the House has passed their version of…”

“as many Americans are aware, the Senate has passed a version of the energy bill, the House has passed their version of the energy bill, and, as often happens, the two versions are not the same. So, at the present time, the energy bill is in conference. One major difference between the House version and the Senate version is in the renewable fuels section. In the House, we mandate 5 billion gallons of ethanol be produced in this country by 2012. The Senate version requires 8 billion gallons rather than 5 billion. So there is a substantial difference. In 2004, the United States produced 3.6 billion gallons; this year, 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol. And we should reach the 5 billion gallon standard by 2006. So the House version is relatively meaningless, because by saying that we want 5 billion gallons in 2012, we will have already reached that by 2006. So we are obviously very supportive, many of us, of the 8 billion gallon standard, and I rise tonight to encourage that that be what is included in the conference report. Currently, ethanol is produced in 20 States, including California and Kentucky. At one time, it was assumed that ethanol was something that was only produced in five or six midwestern states. Ethanol could be made from almost any type of biomass, and I think eventually we will see ethanol production in all 50 States. The ethanol industry benefits all Americans, not just those in the corn-producing States of the Midwest.…”