The National Farmers Union 105th annual convention in Orlando recently was very focused on alternative energy.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spent a significant portion of her keynote speech at the convention talking about alternative energy, from ethanol to wind. “By making the investments we need to make in renewable energy, we can turn America’s farms and fields into the victory gardens of the 21st century,” Pelosi told the group.
The NFU convention also featured House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota who also talked about domestic fuels. “We need to develop the ethanol industry nationwide, not just in the Midwest,” he said. Peterson went on to stress the importance of keeping ethanol companies in the hands of their rural communities, a priority for NFU members.
During the convention, National Farmers Union delegates approved a policy position to enhance energy and environmental opportunities for rural America which includes supporting expanded research and development dollars for renewable energy technology; expanding the Renewable Fuels Standard; establishing a Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires 25 percent of energy usage to come from renewables by 2025; incentives for local ownership of renewable energy production; and extension and expansion of renewable energy tax credits, including permanent extension of the renewable energy production tax credit.
Listen to Pelosi’s comments about alternative energy here: 
Pelosi at NFU (6 min MP3)
Photo: Representatives Collin Peterson and Nancy Pelosi with NFU President Tom Buis (courtesy NFU)
Presidential candidate Barak Obama visited the nation’s number one ethanol producing state over the weekend. During his visit to Davenport, Iowa, he did an interview with local television station 
Lawmakers and special interests have been chiming in with reaction to the US-Brazil biofuels agreement announced last week.
During a press conference Friday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President Bush said, “I hope the citizens of Brazil, like the citizens of the United States, are as optimistic about the future as these two Presidents are. And one reason we’re optimistic is because we see the bright and real potential for our citizens being able to use alternative sources of energy that will promote the common good.” 
Leaders from a broad alliance of agricultural, energy, environmental, business and labor groups recently rolled out a set of specific recommendations for reaching an ambitious renewable energy goal: 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2025. Members of the 
The Action Plan, which was presented to Congressional leaders, contains 35 specific recommendations that “would cost just five percent of what America spent on imported oil in 2006 and would result in a dramatic increase in new jobs and economic activity, along with significant reductions in oil consumption and global warming emissions.”
Virtually every livestock representative testifying had a statement similar to Joy Philippi of Nebraska, immediate past president of the 
However, in separate press conferences Thursday, the chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees disagreed.
House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota pointed out that grain producers are finally getting a fair price for their crop. “What people fail to recognize is that over the last number of years, corn prices have been substantially below the cost of production and the livestock industry has benefited from this,” said Peterson.
The City of Coral Gables, Florida will be the first city in South Florida to use biodiesel in the city’s vehicle fleet.
When it opens this summer, the Imperium Renewables plant is expected to produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year and will become the largest in the country. And all that biodiesel means increased shipping for the area. In fact, the 
Two Republican senators voiced concerns Wednesday about a potential U.S.-Brazil ethanol accord.
South Dakota Republican John Thune argues that elimination of the tariff is counter-productive to the intention of developing a strong domestic ethanol industry. “This is something that is very good for American agricultural producers,” he said. “So it doesn’t make sense for us to be trying to develop that industry elsewhere around the world nor to make us dependent on a foreign source of energy when the whole purpose is to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.”