Dorgan Says He'll Use Input From Ethanol Summit to Push for Bipartisan Energy Legislation
DORGAN SAYS HE'LL USE INPUT FROM ETHANOL SUMMIT TO PUSH FOR BIPARTISAN ENERGY LEGISLATION
U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) pushed Monday for answers that will explain why the E-85 system in North Dakota "is broken and what we need to do to fix it." He convened a summit of North Dakota ethanol and gasoline industry leaders here who told him about a scarcity of E-85 pumps in the state and spotty supplies, despite a growing number of flexible fuel cars here.
Dorgan, who will chair the Senate Energy subcommittee in the new Congress, noted that North Dakota lags behind other states in the region in most measures of E-85 availability. His new subcommittee post will put him in an ideal position to help E-85 back on track in North Dakota and nationally.
"Our job today is to find out what's broken here and figure out how we can fix it," he said as he convened the session.
Though North Dakota has about 15,000 flexible-fuel vehicles on the roads, E-85 fuel is offered at only about 30 service stations in the state. With two ethanol refineries and several more in the works, North Dakota has fallen behind South Dakota, which has 11 refineries, and Minnesota, which has 16. Iowa will have 27 refineries by 2007.
"The development of our ethanol industry is vital to North Dakota's economy and our nation's energy security, so I'm interested in finding out what is broken here and how we can fix it," Dorgan said. "We made some progress on ethanol in the last energy bill but I am hopeful that the makeup of the new Congress will give us an opportunity to pass new bipartisan energy legislation that will boost the use of renewable fuels. That's what I will push for in Congress and I hope our state leaders take action at the state level so North Dakota's farmers can see the benefit of this new industry."
Dorgan authored a provision in the federal energy bill approved by Congress last year requiring refiners to produce and use at least 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol in their gasoline blends annually by 2012.
http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=266096