Thune Introduces Indirect Land Use Bill

John Thune, United State Senator from South Dakota

-Measure Seeks to Promote Domestic Renewable Fuel Production-

April 30th, 2009 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John Thune introduced a bill today designed to strengthen the Renewable Fuels Standard and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) attempts to use inaccurate indirect land use models to discredit the positive environmental impacts of ethanol.

"Following California's recent decision to use flawed models to estimate ethanol's environmental impact, I am concerned that the EPA could soon apply similar standards that will handicap renewable fuel relative to regular gasoline," said Thune. "Congress has asked EPA to apply greenhouse gas emission standards that reflect ethanol's proven environmental benefits. However, with the EPA's current decision that is pending at the White House, I am concerned that EPA's action could have a detrimental impact on our renewable fuel industry and efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

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