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Legislation
National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act
Congressmen Abercrombie (D- HI) and Peterson (R-PA) have introduced the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act, H.R. 6709. This legislation increases domestic production of energy and invests in renewable and alternative fuels, while providing incentives for the American people to conserve and use energy more wisely. Congress will review the legislation when they return from their August recess.
Farm Bureau supports H.R. 6709
American Energy Independence Act
The American Energy Independence Act, H.R. 6161, was recently introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI). The legislation is a comprehensive energy plan that focuses on domestic fuel sources including:
- Incentives for nuclear energy production.
- Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
- Removing the ban on outer continental shelf (OCS) energy exploration and drilling.
- Tax credits for purchasing new, energy efficient computers; appliances; windows; and new homes.
- Extending tax incentives for renewable energy production.
Lieberman - Warner Climate Security Act
The Lieberman - Warner Climate Security Act, S. 2191, was recently debated in Washington, D.C. The legislation aims to enact a federal program that will reduce United States greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Introduced by Joe Lieberman (I-CN), the bill would enact a complex “cap and trade” system that puts a “cap” on carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions, which declines every year. Facilities and entities unable to meet their “cap” or reduce more than they were allowed to emit would have to buy “trade” offsets on a carbon market established by the bill.
Agriculture could benefit from the legislation by being paid for providing offsets. Farmers would have the opportunity to voluntarily mitigate GHG emissions through carbon sequestration in soils and methane and fertilizer management.
Concerns with the legislation are the potential increase in fuel, fertilizer, and utility costs to farmers. The bill could also have a negative impact on certain pork, dairy, or other livestock operations that might be required to report greenhouse gas emissions.
The recent debate included many amendments, but the legislation failed to move out of the Senate. The legislation, in a modified form, may be introduced again later this year.
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
The 2007 Energy legislation included an RFS. The RFS is a biofuels mandate broken down into the following categories.
The current RFS includes several schedules for biofuels: conventional, advanced, cellulosic and alternative diesel.
- The conventional biofuels RFS schedule begins at 9 billion gallons in 2008, increases to 15 billion gallons in 2015 and includes only corn starch-based ethanol.
- The advanced biofuels schedule begins at 0.6 billion gallons in 2009 increasing to 21 billion gallons in 2022. The advanced biofuels schedule is further divided between cellulose and biodiesel. Any other renewable fuels will fall into the advanced schedule.
- The cellulosic biofuels schedule begins at 0.1 billion gallons in 2010 and increases to 16 billion gallons in 2022.
- The alternative diesel schedule begins at 0.5 billion gallons in 2009, and concludes at 3 billion in 2022.
