how about this that just came across the AP wire:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry, supported by livestock
producers concerned about rising feed prices, stepped up his effort
Tuesday to pressure the federal government to cut ethanol
production requirements in half.
The Republican governor told a roomful of mostly supporters at
the National Press Club that requiring increases in ethanol
production and uses of it as motor fuel is "no longer a good idea.
It's hurting America. It's hurting our families."
Perry is one of a number of politicians and others who have been
calling for a reversal of the Renewable Fuel Standard that Congress
approved last year. Opponents of the standard say the push to turn
more corn into ethanol is raising food prices and the cost of feed
for livestock.
The clamor has elevated as flooding of corn and soybean fields
in the Midwest delivered another jolt to already higher grain
prices. There are fears that the corn crop, which had risen because
of higher demand from developing countries and U.S. ethanol
producers, could be smaller because of the floods.
Matt Hartwig, spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association,
said it is too early to speculate on the corn crop. He said farmers
already are replanting, and increased global production also should
help.
The Environmental Protection Agency will cull through thousands
of written comments sent in response to Perry's request for the
reduction in mandated ethanol production. The law gives the EPA
administrator authority to waive the production requirements after
consulting with the Energy and Agriculture secretaries.
Perry's request has drawn cheers and jeers from around the
country and throughout the agriculture, alternative fuels and food
industries. The issue is splitting the agricultural industry
nationally and in his home state, as well as alarming biofuels
producers.
Corn and peanut growers want the EPA to reject Perry's request,
while dairy and beef producers are lining up behind it. Those
opposing Perry's effort say his oil producing state would benefit
from a drop in ethanol production because it would have to be
replaced with gasoline, further increasing gas prices. But Perry
argues his plan would reduce gasoline prices, particularly diesel.
Ralph and Vikki Glosemeyer, hog and cattle farmers from
Marthasville, Mo., are among the supporters who sent the EPA
written comments. They said they are being "doubly hit" because
of low hog prices and "extremely high" prices of corn and soybean
meal used to feed their hogs.
"We need your help to survive as do many other small farmers
facing the same situation today, the couple said.
But Lawrence Lee Harrison, an executive vice president of
Berkshire Biodiesel in Williamstown, Mass., urged the EPA to deny
Perry's request. His company is building a $65 million, 50 million
gallon a year biodiesel plant in Pittsfield, Mass., Harrison said.
"The major driver of food price increases is the skyrocketing
price of oil," Harrison said.
Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim, CEO of chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride
Corp., told the EPA his company bought more than 320 million
bushels of corn and the about 133 million bushels of soybeans for
soybean meal last year, about 5.2 percent of the nation's corn used
for animal feed and 7.2 percent of the soybean meal that is
produced.
Pilgrim is a top donor to Perry. Pilgrim contributed $216,500 to
Perry's campaign from 2004-2007, according to Texans for Public
Justice.
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The docket number for Texas Gov. Rick Perry's ethanol waiver
request is EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0380.
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On the Net:
To read comments on Perry's request:
http://www.regulations.gov
Renewable Fuels Association:
http://www.ethanolrfa.org
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
