Domestic Fuel

This is the car you will drive if the Climate Bill passes the Senate.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42 percent of Americans oppose the climate bill that passed the House last week because respondents believe the bill will hurt the economy. Well, the more I dig into the nuances of the proposed climate bill, the more I realize that this bill will do more damage than good.

Here are five reasons why the climate bill will ruin your life:

1) You won’t be able to sell your house if it doesn’t pass an energy audit. If your house fails, you’ll have to reduce the price of the house or update the house until you can pass the audit. Here’s an incentive that’s sure to rejuvenate the housing market.

2) The bill would require that all buildings built in the U.S. conform to meet California Building Code Standards. Who needs an affordable house anyway?

3) Your energy bills and other expenses will be higher. The republicans are complaining that the bill would raise yearly electricity bills $175 per year by 2020 but some experts say that an average family’s expenses will go up between $1,200 to $3,000 per year. Break out the summer fans and winter sweaters and blankets.

4) CRAP and RAID – also known as cap and trade.  The legislation mandates a 17 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and an 83 percent cut by 2050. These cuts will be “enforced” in part through a cap and trade system which puts a price on CO2 emissions. With a program this well thought out, how could it not work?

5) The government will tell you what kind of car you can drive. No more gas guzzling SUVs people. Start peddling – you need the exercise anyway.

Now, I could be wrong. The Republican filibuster on CSPAN last Friday nearly put me in a coma, but seriously people, this bill needs an overhaul.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to extend the public comment period for the proposed rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard for an additional 60 days until September 25, 2009. A public notice dated Tuesday was posted on scribd.com and may be published in the Federal Register this week. However, no notice has yet been posted on the EPA website and the agency has not sent out a news release about the action.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) expressed concerns about the extension during his weekly telephone press conference with agricultural reporters. “There’s no doubt that the issue that EPA is dealing with is very complex, so I suppose we ought to have some appreciation for the extra time they’re taking,” Grassley said. “However, the delays threaten the viability of the biodiesel industry which needs the rule to set the level that must be used in 2010 for the RFS. It’s important that the rule gets finished to provide market certainty because biodiesel is not very good shape.”

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) also expressed concern about the extension, which will mean a delay in implementation of the rule. In a statement, NBB officials said, “It is important to note that RFS-2 was supposed to be in place at the beginning of this year, and extension of the comment period could further delay the implementation of the program, This will provide additional hardship to the U.S. biodiesel industry.”

The ethanol industry has not yet released any official comment on the notice of extension.

Miss the Fuel Ethanol Workshop this year? Well don’t fret. You can still tap into all the information that was discussed during the conference. Novozymes is hosting a FREE webinar called, “The quest for maximizing ethanol plant yield” featuring Mitchell Marine, Associate Scientist with Novozymes.

The webinar will discuss:

• - What is yield?
• - Carbon balance model
• - Practical model – with real figures
• - Final thoughts

This 1-hour webinar will be held on Wednesday, July 8th at 1 pm Eastern Time. You can view the invitation and register by clicking here.