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Editorial
Renewable fuels make political, economic sense
Thursday, October 1, 2015
ISIS gets much of its funding from black-market sales of oil, and there's little doubt we would be embroiled in Middle East conflicts if we didn't depend on countries there for this vital liquid.
Renewable fuels have their critics, but a look at the numbers make them more attractive, especially from the perspective of economic development and as an alternative to military intervention to secure foreign supplies.
During Renewable Fuels Month, the Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Soybean Board pointed out the advantages of promoting biodiesel and American ethanol through the Renewable Fuel Standard.
"The data is in; the RFS is driving billions of dollars of economic activity," according to a a 2014 economic impact study released by the Fuels America coalition.
Nebraska farmers raised nearly 289 million bushels of soybeans and 1.6 billion bushels of corn last year, numbers that are expected to increase in coming years.
More than 1,500 people in rural Nebraska and more than 850,000 nationwide are employed in the renewable fuels industry that turns some of that production into fuel to replace imported oil.
The RFS was expanded in 2007 to include biodiesel as well as ethanol, increasing the amount of fuel required to be blended into transportation fuel to 36 billion gallons by 2022, and created new categories, including advanced, cellulosic and conventional fuels.
The result is that renewable fuels now represent more than 10 percent of America's fuel supply and have helped reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil to the lowest level in years.
"Each year we continue to produce more renewable fuels in the United States," said David Merrell, farmer from St. Edward, Nebraska, and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board."In 2014, we reduced our imported crude oil by 512 million barrels and 1.75 billion gallons of imported petroleum diesel -- that's a clear sign the RFS is doing exactly what it was intended to do," he said.
At the same time, renewable fuels provide valuable jobs in our rural communities, and provide as much as $3 million in tax revenue for the State of Nebraska.