Contact: Ernie Blazar 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Friday, March 22, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Kit Bond today announced that the Senate passed his amendment to the Senate Energy Bill that will help farm groups, particularly soybean farmers by boosting government use of biodiesel fuels.

“This is a victory for farmers and the environment,” said Bond. “The increased use of biofuels will mean more business for Missouri’s soybean producers, while at the same time, making the air cleaner.”

Bond’s amendment, co-sponsored by Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), fixes the 1993 Energy Policy Act (EPACT), which aimed to cut American use of foreign oil by boosting use of domestically produced alternative fuels. Specifically, EPACT mandated the use of alternative fuels by federal, state and public utility fleets. In 1998, EPACT was amended to allow fleet managers to comply with this mandate by using a 20-percent biodiesel blend in their existing diesel vehicles. Unfortunately, Congress also said that the blend could only be used to meet 50% of the total EPACT requirements.

The Bond-Lincoln amendment corrects this problem, allowing covered fleets to meet up to 100% of the EPACT requirements through the use of biodiesel.

A champion for the use of biodiesel, Bond says biodiesel offers one of the best ways immediately to cut our reliance on foreign petroleum by boosting home-grown alternatives that are more friendly to the environment.

Last week, Bond’s won Senate approval for another key amendment. Along with Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Bond offered legislation to ensure that science -- not politics -- determines what the right fuel efficiency standard should be for passenger vehicles. Specifically, their amendment which is now part of the Energy Bill, mandates that auto safety be considered in any formulation aimed at boosting auto fuel efficiency.

The Bond-Levin amendment ensures that new fuel efficiency standards balance the needs of consumers, the technology development, without unfairly coming at the expense of auto safety and jobs.