Register Special Report: Threats to Iowa's Bio-energy Industry

Des Moines Register
11:50 PM, Jun 16, 2012
Written by DAN PILLER

Fossil fuels' attacks on mandates, subsidies put renewables at risk

A surge in domestic oil and natural gas production and a decline in national political support for grain-fed biofuels threatens to cripple Iowa’s more than $20 billion renewable energy industry just as it has matured into a major force in the state’s economy.

The political battle, expected to continue beyond the November election, sets up a potential regional battle between the Midwestern grain interests and traditional fossil fuel strongholds in Texas and the Southwest.

The political energy map will change further with the emergence of states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York as major natural gas producers, with offshore wind farms in the Atlantic ocean arising to compete with Iowa and Midwestern wind.

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