[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 172 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H13271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INDIRECT LAND USE CHANGE

  (Mrs. HALVORSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. HALVORSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an important 
issue, indirect land use change, which affects many of my domestic 
ethanol producers. It assumes that biofuel production displaces other 
crops which are then grown in other parts of the world, leading to 
deforestation, and that American biofuel producers should be penalized 
for that indirect release of carbon due to the unrelated actions of 
foreign countries.
  The facts are that deforestation, particularly in the Amazon, has 
decreased, while domestic biofuel production has doubled over the same 
period. The House included a provision in the Energy bill that prevents 
EPA from implementing this rule for 6 years while it is studied to see 
whether the theory is scientifically sound.
  Meanwhile, EPA is slated to release a rule in December which would 
presumably include this theory. This provision could have harmful 
effects on our ethanol producers, and I urge EPA to refrain from 
implementing ILUC until proper science can support it.

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