Barack Obama

Obama pushes for increased ethanol production

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

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BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama urged Congress Monday to end a two-year stalemate that has stifled production of ethanol, a corn-based fuel additive that he says could create more than 200,000 new jobs and ease the nation's dependance on foreign oil.

The freshman Democrat says higher ethanol production targets should be broken out of a federal energy bill that has repeatedly stalled over disputes about drilling and liability for water supplies contaminated by the gasoline additive MTBE.

Boosting ethanol production has broad, bipartisan congressional support, but has been "held hostage" by other concerns over the energy bill, Obama said.

"Now is the opportunity to get this done-- not only for the future of our farmers, the future of our economy and the future of our environment, but to make our country a place that is independent and innovative enough to control its own energy future," Obama said in a statement after touring an ethanol plant in Pekin.

Ethanol's opponents argue that the additive requires more energy to produce than it saves. They also say ethanol has fallen short of its promises to help the environment and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Obama is a member of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee, which is scheduled to begin debate Wednesday on whether to break ethanol out of the energy bill and how high to set targets for ethanol production.

The nation's ethanol production is expected to top 4 billion gallons this year, and some supporters have advocated doubling that by 2012. They say raising production could ultimately boost corn prices by 25 cents a bushel, which would pump an extra $375 million a year into the Illinois farm economy.

Though he has not settled on a production goal, Obama said boosting the nation's ethanol output is a "no-brainer" that would spawn new plants, creating jobs and saving $4 billion a year in imported oil and gasoline costs.

"Today, if you pull into a gas station and want to fill up your tank, you're paying some of the highest prices of all time," Obama said. "And if you turn on the news, you can see that our dependence on foreign oil is keeping us tied to one of the most dangerous and unstable places in the world."

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