Senate Ag Committee OK’s $800M for Farm Bill Energy Programs; DOE OK’d to Move $100M for Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the Senate Agriculture Committee has approved $800 million in mandatory biofuels-related funding for the proposed energy title in the upcoming Farm Bill.
…Yesterday, Senators Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Richard Lugar of Indiana led the way in carrying an amendment that put the mandatory funding into the bill. According the Advanced Biofuels Association president Michael McAdams, they were part of a broad, bipartisan coalition that has come together to support biofuels and the Farm Bill, including Republican Senators Grassley of Iowa, Thune of South Dakota, Cochran of Mississippi and Hoeven of North Dakota, and Democratic Senators Harkin of Iowa, Klobuchar of Minnesota, Casey of Pennsylvania, Brown of Ohio, Bennet of Colorado, and Stabenow of Michigan.
…In other Capitol Hill news, the Department of Energy is now receiving Senate approval to move $100 million in previously authorized funding to support its advanced biofuels partnership with the US Navy, and the US Department of Agriculture, which pledged $510 million last year under the Defense Production Act to invest directly in commercial-scale biofuels facilities to assure a supply of military biofuels at affordable prices.
…There is still considerable doubt as to whether a Farm Bill will proceed forward, during the 2012 election season. Reportedly, Senate Agriculture chair Debbie Stabenow is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to schedule time for the Farm Bill before the July 4th recess. READ MORE and MORE (Governors’ Biofuels Coalition) and MORE (Senator Richard Lugar) Download Lugar/Conrad amendment
