Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
SF464: A Bio-fuels Mandate for Iowa
“If we care about sustainability and energy
independence, we should urge our elected officials in Des Moines to vote no on
SF464.”
Once a year I try to get to Des Moines to visit my elected
officials in the legislature. As a citizen, my interests are many, and I lack
confidence that third parties can represent my interests as well as I can do it
myself. This is a native American impulse and the scourge of organized
religion, labor unions, trade associations and community organizing groups. If
everyone felt this way, and participated in our democracy directly, we would
have less need for third parties and our government would be much more
representative of the people. If you want to read more about my experience in
Des Moines, check out my blog, Big
Grove Garden.
Iowa lawmakers will be considering SF464 this session, a
bill that would require, among other things, a five percent blend of B5
biodiesel to be sold at all diesel fuel outlets in Iowa. The preamble to the bill
seems simple enough, “An Act relating to motor fuel, by providing for a
biodiesel quality standard for energy security and sustainability,
ethanol blended gasoline and biodiesel blended fuel designations
and tax credits, penalties, and effective dates.” Already the powerful
interests are lining up on this one.
One thing about the Iowa legislature is that they provide
a list of all of the lobbyists and where they stand on specific bills. I
met Steve Falck who represents Renewable Energy Group, a registered biodiesel
industry lobbyist, and supporter of SF464. He seemed well versed on many of the
issues pro and con on this bill and was enthusiastic about its prospects. According
to Falck, the largest buyers of biodiesel in the state are truckstop operators and
they are against the bill. They don’t like mandates.
Falck gave me a copy of a letter dated December 10, 2009
from the American Lung Association supporting the bill, which asserted, “the
average diesel school bus emits nearly twice as much pollution per mile than a
big rig truck, and the type of pollution they emit is particularly harmful to
children, who have a higher respiration rate than adults, and immune systems
that are not fully developed.” He also indicated that Iowa becoming energy
independent was a national security issue and this bill would help keep dollars
in Iowa that are currently going to oil producing nations. He had a couple of
cogent talking points, which he had obviously rehearsed. If I didn’t know
better, I would have thought he was trying to scare me into supporting the
bill, talking about children and national security that way.
The American Lung Association letter was somewhat deceptive
with its focus on school buses. Their facts seem accurate, and using
pollution-reducing fuels in school buses is a no-brainer from a health of
children standpoint. As far as school buses are concerned, why not compressed
natural gas as an alternative to both diesel and bio-diesel? This is what other
communities are doing to control emissions, especially in urban centers. For
that matter, why a 5% blend in school buses instead of 100% bio-fuels if we want
a bio-fuels mandate? Another question is if school buses are to be a focus, then
why implement a legislative mandate when the same result could be achieved
through other administrative channels without it? The answer is it’s about the
biofuels industry and their lobbyists in Des Moines like Mr. Falck.
SF464 is a corruption of what it means to seek energy
independence for Iowa and to be sustainable. The most significant thing the
Iowa legislature could do to help move towards energy independence would be to
find ways to produce electricity with non-food fuel stocks. To a large extent,
this means stopping the flow of dollars out of the state to buy coal from the
Powder River Basin of Wyoming. It also means supporting development of enzymes
that can metabolize non-food plant products like corn stover to produce
cellulosic ethanol. What appears to be
foremost in the biofuels industry is locking in their sales through legislative
mandate by passing SF464. If we care about sustainability and energy
independence, we should urge our elected officials in Des Moines to vote no on
SF464.
Here is a link
to find your legislator. Please let them know how you feel about SF464.
~Paul Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County. Check
out his blog, Big Grove Garden.
E-mail Paul Deaton
Blog For Iowa 