California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received at least two more letters this week protesting the state’s proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
Over 65 retired members of the U.S. armed forces and intelligence community wrote to the governor about their concerns that applying the LCFS in its current state would penalize renewable fuels to the benefit of petroleum and other fossil fuel.
This is not simply a scientific or environmental matter. It is a matter of national security, which is threatened by our reliance on oil and the effects of climate change. That is why we, as former members of the United States armed forces and intelligence services are writing to you on this important subject. Biofuels play a critical role in breaking our dependence on oil and mitigating the impact of climate change. The links between national security, fossil fuels, and climate change are many and they are severe.
The letter, which came through the Truman National Security Project, concluded, “We are calling on the state of California to lend us a hand in keeping America safe by enacting a fuel regulation that is unbiased and does not enforce indirect carbon effects against only one type of fuel.”
Meanwhile, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation also wrote to Gov. Schwarzenegger this week, calling for a “level playing field” in the development of that state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).
AFBF president Bob Stallman noted that the agricultural community is eager to play a central role in the increased use of biofuels, but warned, “If adopted as currently proposed, the LCFS will uniformly dissuade the production and use of all forms of biofuels that utilize land and undercut what is a tremendous opportunity to spur economic growth in agricultural communities and reduce carbon emissions with American farming.”
Airmen and soldiers in Alaska could one day be using alternative fuels for their operations.
An American biodiesel maker has headed north of the border, but its product will come back to the U.S.
Massachusetts-based Verenium Corporation, a developer of next-generation cellulosic ethanol, has signed a deal with Swedish provider of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling technologies Alfa Laval to market processes that degums vegetable oils, making them better for biodiesel production.
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) will be awarding $5,000 worth of scholarships to employees and dependents of employees of ACE Voting and Associate member companies and organizations in good standing. The application is now available but 2009 membership dues must be paid for applicants to be eligible.
It looks as though the state of Maine could have no ethanol blended with their gasoline. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Lisa Marrache has submitted a bill requiring oil companies to make ethanol-free fuel an option at the pump in Maine.
“Man’s most carnal tendencies are inflamed by the most modern of elements, uranium.”
Many thought the debate over nuclear energy was cooled but in fact its as heated as ever. There is a vocal worldwide debate about the fate of nuclear energy and its role as a green alternative to coal. Uranium is one of the most abundant elements in the world and ours for the taking. The United States is working on bringing several new nuclear facilities online, the first in more than two decades, and while France is adding more nuclear plants Germany is shutting all their nuclear facilities down citing environmental issues. Yet a handful of countries trying to build nuclear facilities are being denied access to the technology citing “terrorism” concerns.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) 
Progress toward next generation biofuels will be a focus of the 
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has 
The companies – Edenspace Systems Corporation, ICM, LanzaTech Inc., POET, Qteros, Inc., Range Fuels, Red Shield Acquisition LLC, and ZeaChem – assert that removing the regulatory cap of 10 percent “will ensure the product market necessary to encourage continued investment in the commercialization of advanced biofuels.”