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Ethanol Industry Encouraged by Clinton Remarks

30 March 2000

Ethanol Industry Encouraged by Clinton Remarks, Stands Ready to Double Production of Renewable Fuel

    WASHINGTON, March 29 At today's press conference,
President Bill Clinton urged Congress to develop a long-term energy plan that
promotes alternative fuel sources.
    Eric Vaughn, President of the Renewable Fuels Association, made the
following statement in response to President Clinton's remarks:
    "The United States has the strongest alternative fuels program in the
world today due to the growth of the domestic ethanol industry.  We are doing
it today.
    In January, the ethanol industry set a record for production and we expect
those records to continue.  The ethanol industry has demonstrated its
commitment to making the investment to build and grow and increase the
production of renewable ethanol.
    With President Clinton's continued support we can double ethanol
production in as little as two years.  President Clinton should take two
specific actions today.  First, the President should deny California's request
for a waiver from the Clean Air Act oxygen requirement.  This would
dramatically promote the increased use of domestically produced ethanol.
    Second, the President should support maintaining the current federal
oxygen requirement in reformulated gasoline, which has been crucial to our
clean air gains.  That can easily be done by replacing MTBE, a groundwater
contaminate, with ethanol.
    Those two actions alone would guarantee a doubling of ethanol production
and use.  By doing this, the President would be responsible for the largest
increase in the use of alternative fuels in our nation's history.
    Expanding the use of ethanol will bring more of our energy supply under
American control.  Doubling the use of ethanol will create almost 50,000
American jobs.  Using ethanol helps the family farmer.  And ethanol can
completely replace MTBE that is poisoning our drinking water while maintaining
the clean air gains."