GoodFuels

Sen. Bingaman supports ethanol

Via Green Inc, the New York Times’ environmental blog:

New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said yesterday that Congress may need to help the ethanol industry in light of recent economic shifts.

“Obviously the ethanol industry is in some difficulty now,” Senator Bingaman said in an interview. Mr. Bingaman said he sympathized with the industry’s desire for more loan guarantees and said he thought government regulations that limit ethanol content to 10 percent of most gasoline blends should be reconsidered.

“I believe we could go to E-12, or E-14 or E-16 without causing any great problems with vehicle operation,” he said.

He made additional comments about the blending levels of ethanol in gasoline:

“There is no doubt when we wrote that bill in 2002 we did not anticipate the recession we are currently sinking into,” Senator Bingaman said. “Exactly what that requires us to do as far as changing the law I am not clear on yet. It’s possible we will have to look at the targets again.’’

The NYT also points to this statement from the Obama administration in January:

“We recognize that the biofuels industry – like so many other industries – is struggling under a faltering economy. We are working with Congress and assessing ways to help the industry as a whole in the stimulus package, as investing in advanced biofuels is important to the President’s broader goals of reducing dependence on foreign oil and growing rural economies.”

Here’s hoping the blend wall gets raised.