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˜ Ben Nelson
Amid news reports that President George W. Bush is planning on entering into an "ethanol alliance" with Brazil during his upcoming trip to Latin America, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson re-iterated his desire to see American ethanol production put first. Nelson wrote to Bush today to urge the President to not take any steps that would undermine the domestic ethanol industry.
"Ethanol producers in Nebraska, and across America, have taken huge strides in building a viable, effective renewable fuels industry," said Nelson. "We shouldn't be in a position where we're trading our reliance on foreign oil for a reliance on foreign ethanol."
Tomorrow, President Bush will begin a tour of Latin American nations with a stop in Brazil. There he will join with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to announce the creation of an "ethanol alliance" aimed at creating quality standards for the alternative fuel, while joining forces to promote production of ethanol in nations lying between Brazil and the United States.
In his letter, Nelson lauded efforts to expand ethanol use worldwide, but expressed his opposition to using American research and tax dollars to promote foreign sources of ethanol.
"Advancing domestic production must remain America's foremost priority at this time. We should not sacrifice the long-term potential of, and opportunities for, the American biofuels industry for any reason, including an alliance with Brazil," wrote Nelson.
Nelson also urged the President not to consider any measure that would eliminate or reduce the tariff on foreign ethanol. Nelson is the sponsor of the Biofuels Investment Trust Fund Act (S. 426), which would direct that all funds collected from the tariff be invested in the research, development, and deployment of biofuels, especially cellulosic ethanol produced from biomass feedstocks.
"Renewable fuels are a key component of our energy, economic and national security," said Nelson. "If America uses taxpayer dollars to promote foreign ethanol at the expense of our domestic producers, we'll be in a lose-lose situation. We need to focus our resources on promoting efforts here at home."
When Ben Nelson served as Nebraska's Governor there was only one ethanol plant in the state. Today, Nebraska has 12 plants and is ranked 3rd nationally in ethanol production. 6000 jobs in Nebraska are related to the ethanol industry.
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