Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels, Peterson Responds

President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced a series of steps his administration is taking as part of its comprehensive strategy to enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy and its promise of new industries and millions of jobs.

The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to implement the long-term renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by 2022 as established by Congress. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program that would provide financing to increase the conversion of biomass to bioenergy. The Biofuels Interagency Working Group released its first report - Growing America's Fuel - that lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialization of a sustainable biofuels industry to meet or exceed the nation's biofuels targets.

In response to the President's announcement, Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Collin C. Peterson (Minn.) issued the following statement.

"Typical of most decisions made in Washington, there is some good and some bad in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) final rule. I am pleased that ethanol and biodiesel will qualify as advanced biofuels under the RFS2. However, I am concerned about some provisions in the final rule that fail to use science-based standards," Peterson said. "To think that we can credibly measure the impact of international indirect land use is completely unrealistic, and I will continue to push for legislation that prevents unreliable methods and unfair standards from burdening the biofuels industry."