[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 31 (Monday, August 4, 1997)]
[Pages 1162-1163]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Renewable Fuels Tax Incentives

July 31, 1997

    I am very disappointed that the tax incentives for renewable fuels 
were not extended in this budget agreement. By now, all Americans should 
be aware of the important role ethanol plays in cleaning our air and in 
providing economic development for rural America.
    In the last two decades, ethanol has grown from a fledgling industry 
to make a real contribution to our environment, our national economy, 
and our efforts to wean ourselves from foreign sources of energy. As the 
Nation moves toward cleaner reformulated gasoline in 2000, it will be 
crucial to have a number of options for making this fuel. Specifically, 
Americans will need a choice of oxygenated fuels to meet their clean air 
needs, including ethanol and its ether, ETBE, which has properties that 
make it particularly beneficial to the environment. Having a broad range 
of oxygenated fuels from which to choose will help increase competition 
in that market, lowering prices for consumers.
    To continue the progress made so far, and to provide Americans with 
a choice of oxygenated fuels, it is critical that we extend these tax 
incentives beyond 2000. Only by extending these incentives until 2007 
will farmers and renewable fuels producers have the certainty they need 
to invest in new ethanol plants and thus to further expand our domestic 
renewable fuels industry.
    I have included a 7-year extension of the renewable fuels tax 
incentives in the NEXTEA legislation I sent to Congress earlier this 
year, and I urge Congress to enact this proposal as part of the 
reauthorization of the transportation bill.

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