Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack kicked off the Great Green Fleet with the deployment of the USS John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group (JCS CSG) during a ceremony Wednesday in California. At the end of the ceremony, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Stockdale left the pier to begin its deployment, becoming …
National Biodiesel CEO Keynotes Iowa RFA Summit
National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe was the keynote speaker at the 10th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit this week, highlighting the significance of the new volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for biodiesel. “It signaled a strong commitment by the EPA that they not only wanted to get the program back on track but they want to …
Iowa Governor Blasts Ted Cruz Over Ethanol
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad made national headlines Tuesday at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit with his comments about presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during an impromptu press conference. “He is heavily financed by Big Oil,” Branstad said about Cruz. “I think it would be very damaging to our state…and I think it would be a big mistake for Iowa …
Four GOP Candidates Address #Ethanol
Four Republican presidential candidates addressed the 10th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on Tuesday, putting a major national spotlight on the importance of ethanol to the nation. First up was former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the only candidate who had been there before, making his third appearance to the group. He stressed his long support for the Renewable Fuel …
Ethanol Report on 2016
A new year has dawned and with it new opportunities for the ethanol industry. In this Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen discusses some of the upcoming events in 2016, including the 21st National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans February 15-17, and comments on whether there may yet be a legal challenge by the industry …
Happy New Year from ZimmComm!
2015 was a great year and 2016 promises to be even better! In 2015, the ZimmComm team covered over 70 events in 18 states and four countries, including Australia and New Zealand. We uploaded almost 16,200 photos and 65 videos and did over 5,000 posts on our own five websites and several others. Our Flickr photo albums now have almost …
USDA Highlights 2015 Energy Achievements
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has released a list of USDA’s top achievements in 2015 in the areas of trade, food security, conservation, energy, research, rural development, and more. “Even with challenges in 2015, including an unprecedented animal disease outbreak and lower commodity prices, America’s rural communities have proven once again that we are a nation of makers, creators and innovators, …
Carson Supports RFS through 2022
During a recent campaign stop in Iowa Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said the promise of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) needs to be kept through 2022. “(A)s far as the Renewable Fuel Standard is concerned, there were certain promises that were made that extend out until 2022. And many people, you know, invested a lot of time, energy and …
Ethanol Report Looks at 2015 in Review
2015 was another year of highs and lows for the ethanol industry. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen says many of the positives, such as record production and increased exports, were offset by negatives like tighter margins and trade barriers. In this Ethanol Report, Dinneen takes a look back at some of the good news and bad …
Huckabee Talks Energy During Debate
The CNN Republican Presidential Candidates debate from Las Vegas this week was focused entirely on national security issues, but the word biofuels was actually uttered by one of the candidates who put forth the idea of using energy as a weapon. “We ought to be challenging not only Russia, but the Iranians and the Saudis, on the point of energy,” …