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Nebraska Farmers Union
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1305
Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 Contact
John Hansen Office: 402-476-8815, Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815 |
For Immediate Release June
28, 2005
Senate Energy
Package Gives Boost to Farmers
WASHINGTON (June 28, 2005) – Farmers and
ranchers are now a bit closer to achieving a profitable price from the
marketplace due to the U.S. Senate’s passage of the new energy bill by a vote
of 85-12. The bill includes several provisions to increase the production and
demand for fuels from the farm.
“Our Farmers Union organization has worked
extremely hard to get Congress to include ag based products and renewables
included in the new energy bill. We have made many trips to Washington, D.C.
the last few years. The Senate energy
bill is a more forward looking approach that relies more on developing ag based
renewable energy,” said Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen.
Farmers Union has long advocated
encouraging the use of ethanol, biodiesel, wind, and other renewable energy
sources, as key steps in increasing domestic demand for surplus farm commodities,
lowering federal outlays of federal farm subsidies, and decreasing our reliance
on foreign oil.
"Nebraska is one of the
fastest growing ethanol producing states in the country and this legislation
will provide the necessary push for further ethanol utilization. This bill also
contains production tax credits necessary to support farmer and community owned
wind energy projects," Hansen said. "The Senate energy bill
relies more on developing renewable energy, and is therefore, much friendlier
to agriculture than the House energy bill. We hope when the Conference
Committee irons out the differences between the House and Senate energy bills,
they use the much stronger Senate renewable energy provisions. The Conference Committee is our next, and we
hope last hurdle to finally getting an energy bill passed."
The Senate energy package contains some of
the following provisions that will help farmers:
- An increased Renewable
Fuels Standard (RFS), mandating that 8 billion gallons of ethanol and
biodiesel to be used in transportation fuels by 2012.
- Phasing out the gasoline additive methyl
tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), in four years, and offering guarantees and
other incentives to states.
- A 10 percent renewable
portfolio standard (RPS) for utilities by 2010, resulting in production of
energy through renewable means, such as wind, solar, hydro-power.
- Extension of biodiesel
tax incentive.
- The creation of an
assistant secretary for energy and biobased products at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
- Promotes the purchase
and usage of biobased products by the U.S. government.
Nebraska Farmers Union is the state’s second largest and oldest general farm organization representing over 4,500 farm and ranch families and the rural communities they live in. The mission of Nebraska Farmers Union is to improve the economic well being and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, and the rural communities they live in.
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