Corn Wins Watershed Victory; Senate Energy Bill Passes 88 to 11

ST. LOUIS, April 25 -- In what the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is calling an unprecedented, historic move, the U.S. Senate late Wednesday approved S. 517, the comprehensive energy package including a renewable fuel standard (RFS) by a vote of 88 to 11.

``This is the first time ever that national energy policy would require the use of renewable transportation fuel,'' NCGA President Tim Hume said. ``This is a clear victory for farmers and renewable fuels advocates. When the time came to count votes, renewable fuels were, time and again, able to show the strong support they have in the U.S. Senate.''

The NCGA, along with other agricultural, ethanol, oil and environmental organizations, are taking the credit for the bill's passage after months -- and even years -- of hard work on Capitol Hill.

``For the past 20 years, the NCGA has been working side-by-side with farmers, industry and government to build the ethanol industry from the ground up,'' said Hume, a farmer from Walsh, Colo. ``There can be little debate that the results add up to a bona fide success story, and today's Senate action is a new and exciting chapter in that story.''

Hume noted that S. 517 RFS provisions require refiners to use 2.3 billion gallons of renewable fuels, like ethanol, in 2004 and increase that to 5 billion gallons by 2012. Key elements of S. 517 are:

The RFS; Eliminating the reformulated gasoline (RFG) oxygen requirement; Banning MTBE in four years; Creating a renewable credit trading system; and Protecting the environmental performance of RFG. Hume also credited U.S. corn growers and other ethanol supporters with ensuring passage of S. 517.

``Corn growers throughout the nation actively contacted their senators and urged them to pass the comprehensive energy package with RFS provisions,'' Hume concluded. ``This demonstrates the influence farmers can have on national policy that affects them not only as farmers, but as consumers as well.''

NCGA and other key ethanol industry, oil and agricultural associations, including the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API), negotiated the RFS with Senate leaders for weeks. In early March, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (S-SD) inserted the RFS into the Senate energy package in place of current language.

More information about NCGA's work on ethanol and other key issues is available at the NCGA web site: www.ncga.com .

The National Corn Growers Association mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers in a changing world and to enhance corn's profitability and usage. NCGA represents more than 32,000 members, 25 affiliated state corn grower organizations and hundreds of thousands of growers who contribute to state checkoff programs.