Senator Clinton Visits Northeast Biofuels

Senator Clinton Visits Northeast Biofuels

With Gas Prices Averaging $3 Per Gallon, Clinton Calls for New Direction in Energy Policy

Fulton, NY - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today visited the Permolex/Northeast Biofuels ethanol project at the former Miller Brewery, to discuss her policy proposals for increasing renewable energy. According to Department of Energy statistics, the nationwide average price for a gallon of gasoline is now more than $3, and the average price in New York State is $3.13. With prices at those levels consumers in Oswego County will spend $88,603,500 more for gas this year than in 2001, and Onondaga county consumers will spend $333,988,500 more than in 2001. At the same time, oil company profits are exploding, with the five largest oil companies reporting combined second quarter profits this week of $34.5 billion, a 36 percent increase over 2005 second quarter earnings.

"Our current energy policy is a failure, and there is no surer sign of that failure than our spiraling gas prices. Gas prices have more than doubled since President Bush took office. At these prices, New Yorkers will spend nearly $9 billion more on gas in the coming year than they did in 2001," Senator Clinton said. "Consumers are getting squeezed at the same time that the oil companies are recording the largest profits in corporate history. New Yorkers cannot take this any more. We need a real energy policy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil."

"Northeast Biofuels is a huge first step towards the energy future for New York and the nation. This plant is not only good for consumers of oil and gas and for the environment, it also has important implications for the growth of the local economy," Senator Clinton said.

Northeast Biofuels, which will produce over 100 million gallons of ethanol a year, will be the first ethanol plant built east of the Ohio River and one of the largest plants anywhere in the country. Even though Northeast Biofuels will start ethanol production using corn as a feedstock, in partnership with SUNY-ESF, they are also exploring the ability to make cellulosic ethanol from local willow trees.

"This is a critical first step, and I am very pleased to support initiatives like Northeast Biofuels. We need to be doing even more to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and that is why I have introduced legislation to create a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund that would eliminate oil company tax breaks and use that money to invest in biofuels and more efficient vehicles," Senator Clinton said.

Senator Clinton's legislation would put $1 billion dollars into research and development for cellulosic ethanol technology, like the kind that SUNY is working on, and would fund loan guarantees for the first one billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol. Senator Clinton's legislation would also provide a 50 percent tax credit to gas station owners who install E85 pumps, and it would require that those pumps be installed at 50 percent of stations by 2015. Similarly, it would require auto manufacturers to make at least 50 percent of their new cars "flex-fuel" vehicles by 2020, and would provide a tax credit to help cover the costs.

"The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is very pleased to work with Permolex/Northeast Biofuels to develop ethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks, support their efforts to help the economy of Central New York and build a more sustainable future for New York State through the Fulton ethanol facility," said Dr. Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr., President SUNY-ESF. "The Renewable Fuels Association estimates that there are 4.5 billion gallons of installed ethanol capacity in the U.S. with a projected national need in 2012 of 7.5 billion gallons. We are faced with a national security mandate, economic stress due to the rising cost of petroleum based transportation fuels, and the environmental mandate to reduce our impact on our global climate. Senator Clinton realizes that the Fulton facility is important because it will be the first major ethanol production facility in New York State making our area a player in resolving major national problems," said Murphy.

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=259931&&