[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 74 (Friday, May 25, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H2721-H2722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           ETHANOL PRODUCTION IS PART OF THE ENERGY SOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kirk). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, over the last several days a great deal has 
been said about our national energy crisis. Unfortunately, most of the 
commentary has centered on finding blame. At various times, the Bush 
administration, the Clinton administration, the California legislature, 
energy companies, environmentalists and others have been blamed.
  As I see it, the main value of looking at the past is to make sure we 
do not repeat the same mistakes that caused the current problem. 
However, dwelling on the past and attempting to fix blame serves no 
useful purpose and actually impedes progress. What is needed now is to 
identify solutions and start moving toward those solutions.
  In my previous profession, which was coaching, there are all kinds of 
people that could say what went wrong and why it went wrong, but this 
really did not accomplish anything. What we were looking for was people 
with proactive ideas, because they were able to help relieve the 
situation.
  Part of the solution to the current energy crisis that would appear 
to benefit all factions involved would be that of ethanol production. 
The use of ethanol in gasoline has been proven to reduce harmful 
emissions by 30 to 50 percent and is a renewable source of energy. 
Therefore, it benefits the environment and should certainly please the 
environmental community. It has a potential to reduce our dependence on 
foreign oil by a small but significant amount, which serves our 
national interests and benefits consumers.
  It utilizes grain surpluses, improves commodity prices and benefits 
the agricultural community. If you look at

[[Page H2722]]

what is going on in agriculture today, ethanol may be about the only 
real bright spot out there for those who grow row crops. We are poised 
to increase our ethanol production by 200 to 300 percent, as dozens of 
new ethanol plants are in various stages of development.
  The one deterrent to this development is uncertainty as to whether 
the 2 percent oxygenation requirement for fuel is going to be waived. 
Currently, about eight-tenths of 1 percent of our national fuel 
consumption is provided by ethanol. It could very easily go to as high 
as 5 or 6 percent. If the oxygenation requirement is waived, the demand 
for ethanol could go down close to zero.
  So this is a huge factor for those who are involved in the ethanol 
industry. It is extremely important for all concerned that the matter 
of whether or not the waiver for oxygenation standards will be granted 
or not be granted. Further delay will only serve to exacerbate the 
problem.

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