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(Dan Reed USA Today) - Get ready, America, T.
Boone Pickens is coming to your living room.
The legendary Texas oilman, corporate
raider, shareholder-rights crusader, philanthropist and
deep-pocketed moneyman for conservative politicians and causes,
wants to drive the USA's political and economic agenda.
"We're paying $700 billion a year for
foreign oil. It's breaking us as a nation, and I want to elevate
that question to the presidential debate, to make it the No. 1
issue of the campaign this year," Pickens says.
Today, Pickens will take the wraps off
what he's calling the Pickens Plan for cutting the USA's demand
for foreign oil by more than a third in less than a decade. To
promote it, he is bankrolling what his aides say will be the
biggest public policy ad campaign ever. The website,
www.pickensplan.com, goes live today.
You can check out T.
Boone Pickens on MySpace as well... Just click
HERE
(NAFB) -
Signaling the U.S. commitment to getting a
world trade agreement through the Doha Round - U.S. Trade Representative
Susan Schwab announced Tuesday that the U.S. is ready to reduce overall
trade distorting support to 15-billion dollars a year. That offer is
contingent - however - on other WTO member nations making improved
offers in market access - and agreeing not to take legal action to get
additional cuts. According to Schwab - this is a major move - as the
current U.S. limit on subsidies stands at 48-billion dollars - and
actual subsidy payments have been above 15-billion dollars in seven of
the last 10 years.
(NAFB) - Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom
Harkin is welcoming the action on the part of the United States to help
move the Doha Round forward. He says the offer represents a significant
decrease in trade distorting ag supports - signifying the U.S. is ready
to negotiate in good faith to complete the Round. But to reach a
successful agreement - he says the proposal must be met with comparable
initiatives on the part of other key WTO members in the area of market
access. He says he’s hopeful an agreement is within reach.
Harkin’s Iowa colleague Chuck Grassley is
weighing in on the developments in Geneva, too - but in a different way.
Grassley - the ranking member of the Finance Committee - which has
jurisdiction over international trade - is responding to reports that
India says the U.S. offer doesn’t pass the laugh test. Grassley says
India has yet to make a constructive proposal that will advance the Doha
Round of negotiations. He says it’s important to see meaningful
reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade from all sides -
and if India is going to stand in the way of opening new trade flows -
negotiators might as well pack up and head home early.
(NAFB) - The
European Union has made an offer of its own in Geneva. Actually
- EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson beat the U.S. to the
punch when he expressed a willingness to cut the EU’s farm
tariffs by 60-percent. The previous offer was a reduction of
54-percent. Mandelson says this latest offer is not a gift - and
wants to see lower tariffs on industrial goods from other
countries - including Brazil, India and China - in exchange.
Speaking of Brazil - Minister
Celso Amorim says the EU offer isn’t meaningful unless it comes
with products like ethanol, sugar and beef. The U.S. - on the
other hand - praised the EU’s leadership.
(NAFB) -Last Thursday - U.S. District Judge John
Coughenour gave USDA and the National Wildlife Federation until noon
yesterday (Tuesday) to work out a compromise on the use of Conservation
Reserve Program acres for critical feed use. That decision extended a
10-day restraining order that halted any critical feed use activity
already underway. Now the deadline has come and gone - and the two
parties have reportedly been called to appear before the judge Thursday
morning. He has not issued an order implementing a modified version of
the critical feed use program - but last week did promise to do so by
the end of this week.
(NAFB) -Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen
Johnson says a final decision on the Texas request for a waiver from the
Renewable Fuels Standard will not be completed by Thursday (July 24). He
says too much work remains - and additional time is needed to give staff
the opportunity to adequately respond to public comments and put a
document together that explains the technical, economic and legal
rationale of the decision. According to a statement issued Tuesday - the
Administrator is confident he can make a final determination on the
waiver request in early August.
Texas Governor Rick Perry officially
requested the RFS waiver in April. EPA then initiated a public comment
period and received more than 15-thousand comments. According to Johnson
- several of those comments raised substantive issues and included
significant economic analysis. He says it’s important to take the time
to review and understand the comments in order to make an informed
decision.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley said Tuesday
he’s confident the EPA will have to deny Governor Perry’s waiver request
if they take a close look at the facts. Perry’s petition said that corn
use for ethanol has helped push food prices higher. But Grassley says
biofuels are not driving up the cost of food and fuel - and that will
still be true in August when the Administrator makes his decision. Until
then - Grassley says U.S. farmers and ethanol producers are caught in
limbo - taking the blame for a situation created far beyond the farm
gates.
(NAFB) - Oklahoma Republican Senator
James Inhofe has introduced a bill the American Farm Bureau Federation
says will relieve farmers and ranchers from undue burdens and
regulations when they transport their crops and livestock across state
lines. The bill would define the weight of a commercial motor vehicle
for ag-related purposes as the minimum weight of the commercial vehicle
in the state in which the vehicle is being operated.
A commercial motor vehicle is defined by
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as having a gross
vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001
pounds or more. Those same regulations allow a state to exempt
commercial motor vehicles up to 26,001 pounds if they’re solely engaged
in intrastate commerce. But crossing state lines changes the
classification to interstate carrier - triggering commercial
requirements - even if both states recognize the exemption. Farm Bureau
President Bob Stallman says his group believes farmers and ranchers
hauling their own products in their own vehicles should not be subject
to the same regulations intended to govern full-time commercial truck
drivers. The Inhofe measure - S. 3271 - would allow farmers and ranchers
to drive between states without triggering the 10,001 pound definition
for interstate commerce.
The bill is similar to legislation
Oklahoma Representatives Dan Boren and Mary Fallin introduced in the
House. That measure has been referred to the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee.
(NAFB) - U.S. Ag Secretary Ed Schafer
has announced that USDA is awarding nearly seven-million dollars in
loans and grants to 27 individuals and businesses in seven states. The
funds - provided under Rural Development’s Renewable Energy Systems and
Energy Efficiency Improvements Program - will support a variety of
energy production and energy saving efforts. Schafer says the Bush
administration is committed to providing more energy from within the
nation’s borders. He says these loans and grants will help accomplish
that goal.
One project - as an example - will
provide for the construction of an anaerobic digester on a dairy farm.
The gas produced from the digester will power a 250 kilowatt generator
onsite - and produce more than 2.5-million kilowatt hours a year.
The Rural Development mission is to
increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for rural
Americans. Since 2001 - more than 90-billion dollars has been invested
and more than 1.7-million jobs have been created or saved.
(NAFB) - While the mystery still isn’t
completely solved - Food and Drug Administration officials have now
advised consumers to avoid fresh jalapeno peppers. Authorities aren’t
sure how the contamination occurred - but they did find the same
salmonella strain blamed for the three-month-old outbreak on a
Mexican-grown jalapeno handled at a Texas distribution facility. This
does not mean raw tomatoes have been cleared as a possible cause - but
the FDA says those tomatoes currently on the market are considered safe
to eat.
With this latest development - Senate Ag
Committee Chairman Tom Harkin has reiterated his call for FDA to
initiate a food safety trace-back system. He says it’s long past time
for the government to act to improve the response to outbreaks of
food-borne illnesses.
(NAFB) -Senators agreed to limit debate on the motion to
consider legislation designed to curb speculation in energy markets by
increasing staffing at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and
placing more regulations on energy futures trading. Tuesday’s 94 to zero
vote reduces the time for debate on the motion to 30 hours. There’s
reportedly no deal in sight to cut that step and get to work on
amendments. Republicans believe the measure is too narrow - and would
like a chance to offer several amendments aimed at increasing domestic
oil and gas drilling. Democrats see the bill as a first step toward
reducing gasoline prices.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Democrats
have offered Republicans a chance to vote on speculation and allowing
state governors to decide on offshore drilling. Under the offer - each
measure would need 60 votes to prevail. But Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell says Republicans want a full and open debate on energy policy.
He says they’re interested in a solution - not a pair of votes that will
allow the political cover to blame the other side for a lack of
accomplishment.
(NAFB) - Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture
Committee Saxby Chambliss isn’t too thrilled with the plan to
address energy speculation. Because the Ag Committee didn’t have
a chance to review the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act
before it was brought to the floor - Chambliss says many
problems exist. He says there has not been an opportunity to
fully explore the possibility that implementation of the bill
could have negative impacts - and says factual data is lacking
in the debate.
While Chambliss believes certain components of the
bill - those designed to yield more transparency in the markets
- are necessary - he says the language goes far beyond what he
considers reasonable. According to Chambliss - a reasonable
market oversight component could be developed as part of a
bipartisan - comprehensive package. But he says the current
approach is distracting the Senate from developing more
reasonable and balanced legislation.
(NCGA) - An
expert on energy markets has warned that gas prices
would jump almost immediately if the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were to grant
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s request for a partial waiver
of the renewable fuels standard. “Our analysis
shows that $5 gasoline will just be the beginning,”
energy market writer and publisher Tom Waterman
said. “Prices in California within one month would
reach $5.75 per gallon and head to $6 per gallon by
summer’s end. The rest of the country will follow.”
“U.S. refiners would suddenly be faced with finding
roughly 1.6 million barrels or 68 million gallons of
gasoline per day immediately,” Waterman added.
“These events are definite if the EPA acts.”
Waterman’s
comments were part of a post on a Web site
maintained by the Renewable Fuels Association.
Click here
for the entire post.
Waterman has
been writing about oil, gas, electricity and
renewable fuels as a reporter, editor and publisher
for 23 years. He launched and publishes Btu,
one of the leading sources of information in the
natural gas and electricity markets, and the most
widely distributed electronic information and market
intelligence product in the market. Waterman also
started a daily wire service and weekly petroleum
publication known as MarketWire, and launched the
weekly publication The Ethanol Monitor in
2005, which has quickly emerged as one of the most
innovative and comprehensive publications in the
field.
Waterman’s
insight presents the corollary to what many have
recognized, the fact that corn-based ethanol has
helped keep gasoline prices from being even higher,
by reducing the amount of petroleum needed in the
United States. According to the Center for
Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State
University, the growth in ethanol production has
caused retail gasoline prices to be lower (up to
$0.40 per gallon) than would otherwise have been the
case.
Click Here
for more information on how ethanol helps keep
gasoline prices down.
IL Corn Growers) -
This is from The Illinois Corn Growers Association...
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: With the ongoing food and
fuel issue and difficulty planting, you might be feeling a little beat up
mentally as this week draws to a close. To quote financial
adviser/author Suse Orman:
"When you undervalue what you do, the world will
undervalue who you are.” This excerpt comes from her book “The Power to
Be Rich.”
Have growers in general been content to till and too
inactive when it comes to cultivating their image and the sweeping
positive changes in the business of agriculture? With that said, there
may be two victories that will ultimately emerge from the current
drubbing that farmer’s reputation is taking. First, perhaps we all
should take a giant step back and evaluate how crucial your role has
become to the world as a provider of food, feed, fuel and fiber for the
world. Add to this your environmental contributions from saving soil to
reducing greenhouse gases and you may be living the greatest story
“never” told. After years of anonymity resulting from
abundant commodity reserves, farmers have emerged as real players on the
world stage. Although most of the perceived problems being blamed on
corn and biofuels are based on misinformation, you are no longer taken
for granted. Growers and the industry are at center stage.
We need to decide rapidly how we use this brief moment in the sun to
educate the public about how technology, progress and productivity are
remaking the business of farming. And the second victory of sorts
that could emerge but is still formulating is the ability to communicate
better and share better within the industry. The truth is that we as an
industry do a rotten job of working together. This is an industry built
on individual enterprise and independent thinking. I hope we never lose
this spirit that made U.S. agriculture the envy of the world. But
this well known psyche of independence within the entire Ag industry may
be in large part responsible for why the Grocery Manufacturers
Association decided that growers were easy pickings and made the perfect
fall guy to take responsibility for higher food prices. Now, new
networks of communication and cooperation are causing the countryside to
buzz with activity to address the high-priced, well orchestrated public
relations scourging that the industry is taking. As these new pathways
of communication and new alliances are built I hope they become a
permanent structure rather than a passing convenience to put out a
fire.
So, while you are planting corn or waiting for the fields to dry
remember to value what you do and never ever again undervalue who you
are; and never ever allow anyone else to take that liberty either.
(IL Corn Growers) - GAS PRICES WOULD SOAR WITHOUT
BIOFUELS: A new report spells out the ugly truth about what would happen to
gasoline prices if we cut back the amount of ethanol fuel in the market today.
Biofuels have become an essential component of the world’s motor fuel supply,
according to the International Energy Administration (IEA). In a just
released report, IEA estimates that biofuels will account for nearly two-thirds
of the non-OPEC oil supply growth this year, a “sobering” amount of the fuel
supply.
“While it seems unlikely that
biofuel targets will be reversed in the near future, it is sobering to realize
the amount of oil that would be needed to replace them,” the IEA said. "Just
offsetting the biodiesel and ethanol added to the U.S. and European markets
since 2005 would require around 1 million barrels a day of additional crude oil
supplies to be processed.”
The IEA is the latest in a
series of experts highlighting the critical importance of biofuels in the fuel
supply. Merrill Lynch analysts Francisco Blanch recently told BusinessWeek
that the impact of removing biofuels from the fuel supply would be dramatic:
“For one, the billions of
gallons of ethanol are moderating oil prices by ‘easing energy bottlenecks,”
says Francisco Blanch, head of global commodity research at Merrill Lynch.
Blanch figures that oil prices would be at least 15% higher than they are, if
not for today’s output of ethanol.”
IowaStateUniversity’s Center for Agriculture and Rural
Development has estimated that American drivers are saving between $0.30-$0.40
per gallon thanks to the use of ethanol.
And, economist John Urbanchuk recently told Reuters that
removing even 50 percent of the ethanol scheduled to be used this year would
“add a bit over $1.10 a gallon to gasoline in the short term because you've got
to go out and replace that 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol.”
“Biofuels are an essential part
of our nation's gasoline supply,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob
Dinneen. “Without ethanol, Americans would likely be paying $4.25 per
gallon for gasoline. Considering the impact of higher fuel prices on the
cost of all consumer goods, especially food, ethanol is working to keep prices
far lower than they otherwise would be.”
Dinneen continued, “In the face
of record oil, gasoline and diesel prices, it might seem pennywise but would be
pound foolish to walk away from our commitment to biofuels and a diversified
energy future.”
E85 PERFORMING AT HIGHLAND SPEEDWAY:
Greg Spencer of rural Gillespie, who made the switch to
E85 this season, is running 3rd in the sportsman class points at Highland
Speedway in Highland, Illinois. He has been as high as 1st in the points by
winning nearly 50 percent of his heat races while finishing consistently in
the top 5 for the feature race, at the midpoint in the season. “The
competition at Highland is talented. We can run close together and we have
the type of respect for each other that makes good racing.”
This year Spencer made the switch to E-85 to fuel his
car. “We wanted to promote the agricultural products of our area and use a
renewable fuel,” said Spencer. “When introduced for the races or after
winning a race it is good to hear the car announced as ‘E-85, the corn
powered car’” “Renewable, locally produced fuel is important to us and
consumers can see that it works on the track,” said Greg. There are E-85
pumps available to consumers with new ones opening up over this summer.
Major car and truck manufacturers are expanding their E-85 compatible models
for 2008. You can find the nearly 171 E-85 pump locations at
http://e85vehicles.com/e85-illinois.htm.
“The Illinois Corn Marketing Board and Aventine have been
great sponsors to work with and are continually interested to see consumers
purchase E-85 cars and learn about the fuel,” said Spencer. There are 10
plants in Illinois and 161 of plants at this time across the nation
producing ethanol. “There is clearly a net energy gain producing ethanol,
it burns cleaner than regular gasoline and farmers are growing enough corn
to produce ethanol.” “We can produce enough corn to feed livestock, produce
ethanol and meet the other demands world-wide,” said Greg.
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