The American Coalition for Ethanol announced today the dates for its upcoming Washington DC fly-in. In its third year, the 2011 “Biofuels Beltway March” will be held Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30. The timing is such to correspond with the 112th Congress that will be in full swing by that time. In fact, the new Congress is being sworn in today and so ACE is calling on its grassroots members throughout the country as well as ethanol supporters to join them for their event.
One ethanol supporters have committed to participating in the event, they will break into teams for visits to Capitol Hill offices, meeting with Members of Congress or their staff about ethanol tax incentives and market access. Other topics will include the E15 waiver, flex-fuel vehicles and blender pumps. Last year, 30 people participated and Jennings hopes to more than double that number for this year.
“Face-to-face meetings between constituents and lawmakers are the single best way to make sure our message is heard, and with the record number of freshman Members of Congress, it is critical that we get their attention early and present them with the facts about ethanol and its proven benefits. I am looking forward to a very successful event,” Jennings added.
To learn more about the event or to register, visit the “Get Involved” tab at Ethanol.org. Questions may be directed to Shannon Gustafson at 605-334-3381 or sgustafson@ethanol.org. You can also view photos from their fly-ins last year here.
Environmental Watch List of 2011. The 10 environmental hot topics range from issues like oil spills and offshore drilling to breakthroughs in wind and solar energy and the military’s increased use of renewable energy. The full report evaluates 10 judicial, legislative and other actions that the top-ranked law school considers to significantly affects humans and the natural world.
The letter continued, “The label shortcomings include leading, unscientific statements, confusing technical information and unwarranted warnings. The label as written will seriously impair long-term progress towards achieving the country’s stated goals for renewable fuels. It unnecessarily will promote skepticism and concern over any future broader approval for E15 and create the false perception that E15 is an inferior fuel.”
Growth Energy, the organization that officially filed the E15 waiver back in 2009 also submitted an alternative E15 label for consideration today (blue label). In their letter to the EPA, the organization said, “Growth Energy supports label content and design that provides information to consumers necessary for an informed fuel choice. Growth Energy believes the label should be simple and informative and should state at the top “E-15 (contains up to 15% ethanol).” Further, the label should provide that E-15 is “approved for use only in 2007 and newer cars, light–duty trucks, and Flex Fuel Vehicles.” Finally, the label should provide “Federal law prohibits use in other vehicles, non-road engines and equipment.”
Now that 2010 is just a memory and Congressional leaders are returning to Washington this week to open the first session of the 112th Congress, what does the future hold for ethanol?
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” 
Indore Oil partnered with Protec Fuel to offer E85 through the group’s turnkey E85 infrastructure program. “Over the past three years we at Indore Oil Company have been working in concert with Protec Fuel to give customers in the Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas the option of having E85 as a renewable fuel source for their flexible fuel vehicles,” said Mihir Patel, General Manager of Indore Oil Company. “The relationship with Protec and the people that make everything possible within the company such as Steve Walk are wonderful and a joy to work with. It is a pleasure and fulfilling to think we are working together to provide a renewable source of fuel that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oils and help the environment at the same time.”
The winner for December is Michelle Stahlhut, an