Pawlenty Pushes Ethanol Usage
Posted on: Tuesday, 27 September 2005, 15:00 CDT
By Dennis Lien, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Sep. 27--Saying the United States must reduce its dependence on foreign oil, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty issued a challenge to the nation's governors Monday: Move to a 10 percent ethanol mix in gasoline by 2010.
Replacing expensive imported fossil fuels with homegrown ethanol not only would be a good national security move but would improve air quality and strengthen rural economies, he said.
"It's been an unqualified success in Minnesota," Pawlenty said in the opening address at the Governors' Ethanol Coalition national conference in St. Paul. Pawlenty chairs the coalition, which includes 31 states as well as Puerto Rico, Sweden, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Minnesota has 14 plants producing 450 million gallons of ethanol, a fuel typically made from corn or sugar that is mixed with gasoline and sold to consumers. The state has required a 10 percent ethanol blend for almost a decade and opted earlier this year to boost its ethanol consumption to 20 percent by 2013.
Hawaii and Montana have enacted a 10 percent ethanol standard, but they haven't implemented it yet.
Pawlenty, who championed Minnesota's higher requirement, urged states not to allow old arguments against ethanol to get in the way.
Ethanol, he said, can be made from other products, such as biomass and wood. It produces more energy than is used to make it, he insisted. And statewide subsidies to help the industry grow aren't unusual, he added.
"Almost every fuel is subsidized," Pawlenty said. "You don't think oil is subsidized?"
Despite enduring several energy crises, the nation hasn't moved to newer, more self-sufficient energy sources as quickly as it could have, according to Pawlenty. With oil demand increasing worldwide, he said the problem of high gasoline prices and vulnerable supplies isn't going away.
Hans Detweiler, an Illinois energy agency official, said his state has debated a 10 percent ethanol mandate, but hasn't acted on it. Still, he said overall ethanol production and consumption in Illinois is increasing.
"I think that Governor Pawlenty's call will be very helpful," Detweiler said.
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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)
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