GoodFuels

Obama Talks to Farm Broadcaster

AgriTalk got Obama’s advisor on the air - AgriPulse got the man himself.

I’d call this a farm broadcast coup. Agri-Pulse Senior Editor Stewart Doan, who is a past National Association of Farm Broadcasting president and Farm Broadcaster of the Year, got an exclusive interview (by phone) with Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama for a discussion of agricultural issues that included renewable fuels. The interview marked the debut of Agri-Pulse’s new on-line audio interview program called “Open Mic.”

Regarding renewable fuels specifically and whether he supports the incentives in place for production, Sen. Obama told Stewart - “I’ve been a strong supporter of biofuels in the past and a Renewable Fuels Standard. What I do believe though is, given the pressure that we’re seeing on food crops and how that’s affecting feed prices, I do think that it is important for us to recognize that we need to move into things like switchgrass and cellulosic ethanol and we need to work with farmers to figure out how can we produce ethanol from non-food sources that would allow farmers to increase their incomes, would continue to improve rural economies, would help us with our dependence on foreign oil and would reduce climate change, but would not put so much pressure on feed prices. That is going to be part of a major energy initiative that I’m pushing for.”

Listen to Stewart’s interview with Obama here.