Grassley Takes More Steps to Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil

GRASSLEY TAKES MORE STEPS TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley today introduced legislation that would require each gallon of motor fuel sold after 2010 to contain at least 10 percent renewable fuel. He introduced the legislation with Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Congressman Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

"We have become dangerously reliant on foreign sources of energy. It's time for Congress to show we're serious about becoming energy independent and stand beside American agriculture," Grassley said. "Aggressive policies are needed to release the stranglehold OPEC and other foreign countries have on our energy needs."

Grassley said that the 10 x 10 Act is a signal that Congress remains interested and adamant in seeking energy independence by promoting the development of renewable fuels in the United States.

Earlier this month Grassley announced that he was leading a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce a Congressional resolution calling for a national renewable energy goal of producing 25 percent of the nation's energy supply from renewable sources by 2025.

Grassley has long been a champion of renewable fuels. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee he was the lead Senate negotiator for the tax title of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that creates a series of incentives for alternative energy, such as wind, ethanol, biodiesel and biomass. He was also a leading proponent of the renewable fuels standard that requires the use of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol annually by 2012.

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