Agriculture secretary designee earns plaudits in South Dakota

Black Hills Pioneer
By Tom LawrenceThe Weekly News
Published: December 24, 2008

Johnson, Thune say they look forward to learning his views

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as the next secretary of agriculture may be a boon for ethanol research.Vilsack has been a leading proponent of the biofuel. Obama supported ethanol research when he won the Iowa caucuses. That win propelled him to frontrunner status and, eventually the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama noted Vilsack’s interest in ethanol when he nominated him for the post Dec. 14.

“As governor of one of our most abundant farm states, he led with vision, fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat but the energy we use,” he said.

Vilsack has pushed for further development of cellulosic ethanol, in which products such as woodchips and switchgrass are used to produce the biofuel. He has called for dropping subsidies for corn-based ethanol.

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