A View from the Hill

July 1, 2006

BY Bob Dinneen

This is the time of year when millions of Americans are on the roads, traveling with friends and family to destinations all across the country. For the first time, many of them will be able to make that trip on ethanol.

Because of the growth of the U.S. ethanol industry over the past five years, American drivers can fill up on ethanol-blended fuels from coast to coast and border to border. Today, more than 40 percent of the nation's gasoline supply is blended with ethanol, and U.S. producers are pumping out nearly 5 billion gallons of ethanol annually.

This summer, brand new markets are utilizing clean-burning ethanol for the first time. Up and down the East Coast, drivers in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are filling up with ethanol blends. The same is true in cities like Houston and Dallas, in the heart of oil country. More and more people across the country are finding E85 stations opening in their communities.
For Americans to truly realize the benefits of ethanol and other biofuels, more must still be done. That is why it is critical for our industry to continue working with our oil-refining customers to increase the amount of ethanol blended into their gasoline. We must work with America's auto industry with the goal of putting a flexible-fuel vehicle in every driveway in the country, and we must seek to increase the availability of ethanol as a truer alternative to petroleum—in the form of E85.

We must not forget our industry's role in all this. We must continue to utilize new technologies, including new feedstocks, to expand production and provide the kind of ethanol supply it will take to put ethanol in every gas tank.

Certainly, our friends in Congress understand the importance of a strong domestic biofuels industry. Several legislative proposals circulating through the halls of Congress provide the kind of incentives needed to expand infrastructure, production and use of biofuels.

We did not become addicted to foreign oil overnight, and we certainly won't break that addiction by the morning. By dedicating ourselves and committing to a path leading toward energy independence, we can ensure that every driving vacation Americans take in the future is powered by ethanol.

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