[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S11212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE IMPORTANCE OF RENEWABLE FUELS

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, just this week, we in the U.S. 
Senate have been confronted with two strong reminders of the importance 
of renewable fuels to this country. This emerging industry, potentially 
lucrative for American farmers and agribusiness, can help solve two key 
problems that we face: the impact of greenhouse gases on the global 
climate, and the growing dependency of the American economy on the 
import of foreign petroleum products.
  On Wednesday, President Clinton, announced the U.S. position with 
respect to the climate change treaty to be negotiated in Kyoto in 
December. Under his instructions, American negotiators will seek to 
fashion an agreement that will commit, on an equitable basis, the 
nations of the world to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases over the 
next several decades. If implemented, our ability to meet such goals 
will depend greatly on the development and adoption of new technologies 
which are more energy efficient. The President's proposal to provide 
tax incentives for more energy efficient technology should be important 
in spurring such development efforts. Renewable fuel technologies, 
especially those derived from agricultural products, will be a crucial 
component of such activities. Many forms, such as the energy that will 
be produced from the switchgrass project underway in Centerville, IA, 
offer the added benefit of actually withdrawing carbon from the 
atmosphere. Expansion of production of renewable fuels also increases 
income for the farm sector, and creates new jobs. In keeping with a key 
theme voiced at the recent White House Conference on Climate Change, 
with renewable fuels we can do well by doing good, for American 
agriculture and the whole country.
  If that were not enough, Mr. President, Tuesday's announcement by the 
Commerce Department that record oil imports caused our merchandise 
trade deficit to increase in August gives added urgency to the 
promotion of renewable fuels. It is clear that even if no treaty on 
climate change comes out of Kyoto, our dependence on oil imports still 
looms on the horizon. The share of imports in U.S. oil consumption has 
been climbing steadily over the last few years, and the Energy 
Information Administration of the Department of Energy projects that 
the share could reach 75 percent within the next 10-15 years. Increased 
production and use of renewable sources of energy could help to stem 
that tide, and reduce our need to rely on energy sourced in large part 
from a politically unstable region of the world.
  During this session of Congress, we can begin to respond to these 
events in at least one concrete way, by passing into law the proposed 
extension of the ethanol tax credit to the year 2007. I urge my 
colleagues to seize this opportunity now to show our confidence in 
agriculture's ability to make a positive contribution in these areas by 
producing renewable energy for American consumers to use.

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