BIO Testifies to House Agriculture Subcommittee That Farm Bill Energy Programs Are Working

“Farm Bill energy programs are working and BIO member companies are beginning to put steel in the ground,” BIO President & CEO Jim Greenwood said today in testimony to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry during a hearing on “Formulation of the 2012 Farm Bill: Energy and Forestry Programs.”

Greenwood presented to the Members of the subcommittee a timeline of the Farm Bill energy programs with examples of biorefineries that are tangible results of the programs, including INEOS Bio New Planet Energy in Florida, Myriant in Louisiana, and ZeaChem in Oregon. These innovative biorefineries are creating new employment opportunities and spearheading economic revitalization in rural communities.

Greenwood continued, “Farm Bill energy programs are revitalizing rural economies, reducing farmer dependence on commodity support programs, and ushering a new generation of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products to the cusp of commercialization.

“Farm Bill energy programs, such as the Biorefinery Assistance Program, BCAP, and the Biobased Markets Program, in combination with complementary federal policies like the Renewable Fuel Standard and supportive tax policies, are speeding technologies to commercial reality. We must continue investments in America’s energy and agricultural future, much like the Senate Agriculture Committee acknowledged when it passed mandatory funding for these programs in the bipartisan bill that passed the committee last month on a vote of 16 to 5. I urge this committee to do its part as well and to reauthorize Farm Bill energy programs with meaningful mandatory funding.”