NEWS RELEASE State Rep. Doug Peterson 287 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155 651/296-4228 Route 3, Box 90, Madison, MN 56256 320/769-2453 For Immediate Release March 11, 2002
PETERSON VOTES FOR BIODIESEL; BILL PASSES WITH STRONG DFL BACKING The Minnesota House Monday sent a compromise biodiesel promotion bill to Gov. Jesse Ventura's desk after urban Democrats were persuaded to support it for its environmental benefits and an effort to kill it by suburban Republican legislators was deflected, Rep. Doug Peterson said after voting for the bill. "This bill is an important first step toward creating a new biodiesel production industry in Minnesota, and another big step toward farm- based energy independence for our state and country," Peterson, of rural Madison said. "In passing this bill, the Legislature is giving hope for a better economic future to Rural Minnesota. President Bush called in his State of the Union Address for moves toward American energy independence. Thanks to the united support of rural members and urban Democrats, we overcame the lobbying force of Big Oil. Minnesota will lead the way with this bill." The bill will require diesel fuel sold in Minnesota to contain at least 2% soybean-based biodiesel oil. However, the requirement won't take effect unless at least 8 million gallons of soy-based biodiesel oil are produced annually by plants located in Minnesota and the state or federal governments adopt a 3-cents-a-gallon fuel tax credit for biodiesel-blended fuel. That is about 15 percent of the expected diesel fuel market in the state. If no tax credit is passed, the requirement would take effect in 2005. Diesel fuel used in nuclear power plants, railroad locomotives and off-road taconite mining and logging equipment is excepted from the mandate. Peterson worked with other rural legislators to get metro-area Democrats to back the measure. In the past year, a large number of scientific studies have confirmed that biodiesel helps to reduce air pollution, and that was key to bringing urban DFLers on board, he said. "Our next step should be to take steps to develop biodiesel production within Minnesota, just like we did for ethanol in legislation that I authored a decade ago," Peterson said. "This bill will help create a market for biodiesel. Now we have to make sure other states don't eat our lunch." Peterson also pledged to support a fuel tax credit to help protect the trucking industry from the potentially higher cost of biodiesel- blended fuel. "In the past 15 years, ethanol has grown from virtually nothing to an industry with $1 billion or more of capital investment, more than 1,000 jobs mostly in rural communities, and higher prices for corn farmers," he said. "Our challenge is to repeat that economic miracle with soybean-based biodiesel." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I have extremely mixed thoughts on this. I dislike mandates. I prefer free market decisions by both manufacturers and consumers. If Politicians really want to help alternative fuels industries, CUT THE RED TAPE! 18 months for a State Air Quality Permit, then all the other Environmental Impact Studies etc. Just the permitting process takes 3-5 years to build anything. This compounds the problem of Venture Capital. You spend $50-150,000 on a feasability study/marketing evaluation, and by the time the permit process is done, the study is no longer valid, due to changing conditions, and needs to be done over. Perhaps the first $100,000 investment in a project should be earmarked as campaign contributions/lobbyists? I know my attitude is getting cynical, but I have 3 years and approximately $475,000 of other people's money invested in a project that is on hold, and likely 3 more years to groundbreaking, after the hold is lifted. Without political interference, this project would have been operational a year ago. Grants and matching funds are just a matter of politicians talking the talk, without walking the walk. If you find scarce resources without using grant money, the red tape ties you up until investors start asking when are they going to see a return? It's really hard to convince them to invest even more. I have an account with over $350,000 that I can't touch, until I jump through the next set of hoops. I don't have the money to hire the hoop jumpers, and can't use the earmarked funds for it. Maybe I need to hire the accountants from Enron? I hear they may be available. Has Bush got a Library Fund started yet? Motie ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4. No Minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
