In case you’re wondering where things stand with new national renewable fuels standards you can hear an update from Missouri Senator Jim Talent. Senator Talent (pictured speaking at an E-85 fuel station in St. Charles, MO) was a guest on the Missouri Corn Growers Association weekly CornTalk program. Talent speaks about his efforts to get the Environmental Protection Agency to move forward on this issue.

U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.), co-chair of the Senate Biofuels Caucus, is asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move quickly to implement the new national standard for renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. In a letter to EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, Sen. Talent, together with Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), said time is of the essence, as the Renewable Fuels Standard will take effect next year.

“Given today’s record oil and gasoline prices, the need to diversify our energy supplies by expanding the use of renewable fuels is clear,” the senators wrote. “The Renewable Fuels Standard will provide for the use of 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel next year, growing to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012. The program is a necessary and important part of our nation’s new energy policy.”

You can hear an excerpt from the program here: