The fact that lots of politicians are interested in promoting ethanol is not new for us. Besides the funding of research in biofuels, a new bill is coming to promote ethanol and educate citizens about their goodnesses. US. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Barack Obama, (D-IL), Kit Bond (R-MO), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation to expand consumer access to E85. Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and John Kerry (D-MA) are also co-sponsors of the legislation.
The ethanol promotion would be achieved by providing grants through the USDA to farmer-owned ethanol producers to install additional E85 pumps at rural gas stations as well as the equipment needed to sell E85 directly to gas stations, bypassing oil companies. They consider that home-grown renewable fuels mean jobs for the country, cheaper fuel for cars and less dependence on foreign oil.
According to Sen. Klobuchar, less than 1 percent of US gas stations serve E85 (1,200 out of 170,000). She will work to include the legislation in the 2007 Farm Bill, which the Senate is expected to take up in the coming months. The bill sets the amount of federal grant assistance at 20 percent of the total project cost, providing enough funding to complete 1,000-2,000 new E85 pumps over the five-year life of the Farm Bill.
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[Source: US Senate via Domestic fuel]
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