04/11/08 Environmental Law

Environmental Law. I'm Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report. The 2007 Farm Bill is still almost as mythical as the unicorn or leprechauns. One of these days it will come to fruition and one of the many facets will be renewable energy. Andy Olsen is a Senior Policy Advocate with Environmental Law and Policy Center and my question is simple, what will the bill hold for renewable energy? OLSEN: Well that's a great question, Greg and we've been working with Congress on the energy programs in the farm bill and there's been great hope that this turnaround in the farm bill we see a real substantial increase in the commitments to clean energy development in rural areas but that has run into the wall of fiscal realities. The amount of funding to create these programs has fallen off steadily over the course of the farm bill deliberations. There are a lot of good program ideas in both the House and Senate farm bills but whether or not they can be funded adequately remains to be seen. Renewable fuels have been taking a beating in the media lately and Olsen says to keep in mind that it is a growing industry. OLSEN: In terms of the ethanol issue these days there is a lot of new views and studies coming out. One thing I find a little frustrating about this is that the most recent studies have been accepted as the final word and we know in the scientific process there is continuing inquiry and we look at studies and turn them over and dig in to them to see if they're really be held up over the course of time. In terms of ethanol I think we're going to have more studies coming out, we're going to have more back and forth and debate and I hope that magazines like Time and others will allow that process to play out before delivering verdicts. Olsen says the shape of renewable energy on the farm is changing. OLSEN: Looking at farm energy, ethanol has long been kind of the poster child but there are so many different energy technologies now for agriculture that this is a real exciting time and we've seen agriculture embrace this. We can look at just energy efficiency, ways to use energy more efficiently on the farm, on the tractors and the farm equipment. But then there are also a wide range of renewable energy technologies. Those include biodiesel, digesters, solar, geothermal and wind power. All which can add to the revenue stream for producers. Olsen suggests that producers look into the 9006 program. OLSEN: It provides grants and loan guarantees if people want to get into cutting energy use or producing renewable energy on the farm and in rural small businesses. For additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network. www.harvestcleanenergy.org