Missouri GOP Senator Jim Talent was the only U.S. Senator to address the "Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance" conference in St. Louis. In remarks to reporters before his speech, he said Congress isn't done addressing renewable fuels issue.
Congress last year passed a comprehensive energy bill with a 7.5 billion gallon renewable fuels standard. But Talent says more legislation to promote the nation's ethanol infrastructure is forthcoming.
"We're going to work to try and make certain the oil companies can't tell their franchisees not to put an E-85 pump in," Talent said. "We're going to increase that tax credit, so we flesh out this distribution network."
According to Talent, there's a move in Congress to make sure the momentum for ethanol continues to grow. "I think it's very important, because I want these investors around the country, including in Wall Street, to understand that Congress is committed to this industry for national security reasons," he said. "This is the path to energy independence."
Talent also predicted Congress will take action during a lame duck session after the November elections, not just to pass the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA), but to fund it as well. "We're going to try and get the WRDA bill done," said Talent. "And I'm still hopeful that if we get the WRDA bill done, we may be able to pass at about the same time a bond issue to actually fix those locks and dams quickly."