From October 23 - 27, Senator Lugar covered more
than 1,000 miles on Hoosier roads to highlight the importance of
energy security. For more information about the trip, read the press
release and view the photos below.
"To this end, the United States should adopt
a national program that would make virtually every new car sold
in America a flexible fuel vehicle. We should ensure that at least
one quarter of filling stations in America have E85 pumps. We should
expand ethanol production to 100 billion gallons a year by 2025,
a figure that could be achieved by doubling output every five years.
We should also create an approximate $45 per barrel price floor
on oil through a variable ethanol tax credit to ensure that investments
keep flowing to alternatives. And we should enact stricter vehicle
mileage standards to point automobile innovation toward conservation.
The plan I am proposing today would achieve the replacement of 6.5
million barrels of oil per day by volume -- the rough equivalent
of one third of the oil used in America and one half of our current
oil imports," he said.
Profile of a Patriot
Each month, Senator Lugar profiles a student,
professional, scholar, or member of the business community who
has demonstrated leadership and initiative in taking concrete
action to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. In addition
to the profile posted here, individuals will receive a certificate
designating them Lugar Energy Patriots, and a letter of congratulations.
Charlie Smith
CEO, Countrymark
At
first glance, Countrymark Co-op CEO Charlie Smith makes an unlikely
biodiesel advocate. The successful businessman (and son of a lifelong
oilman) began his career working on Alaska’s North Slope
for the Atlantic Richfield Oil Company. Later, he led the mergers
and acquisitions team for Muse Stancil & Company, a leading
petroleum-industry consulting firm. But just as only Nixon could
go to China, perhaps it took an oilman’s rigorous analytical
skills and attention to economic principles to bring biodiesel
to the mass market.
When Smith joined Countrymark in 2003, he brought
with him the business acumen typical of the oil industry. “The
fuel industry has exacting standards for gasoline and diesel,”
said Jon Lantz, Countrymark’s Vice President of Marketing,
“and the bio-fuels industry needed to develop those same
standards in order to convince people to use the fuel.”