Energy Speed Bumps & Financial Constraints

Energy Speed Bumps & Financial Constraints. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is encountering a few speed bumps in the House. Republican members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee have pledged they will offer more than 400 amendments. Another bump is funding for new technologies. While some Representatives want to know what technologies will be funded, others say funding should help develop technologies not yet discovered. American Farm Bureau Regulatory Specialist Rick Krause says Energy Committee Democrats won't consider eliminating controversial indirect land use changes to measure emissions from growing biofuel crops.

KRAUSE: That opens it up to Ag Committee jurisdiction and they do not want to do that at this time. They want to pass it off as energy in commerce.

The Farm Service Agency continues to have plenty of demand for funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But the level of funding has been significantly below demand. As of May 12th, FSA reported a loan application backlog of nearly 291-million dollars. The situation is compounded by the time of year. Spring is when farmers need funds to help pay unusually high input costs. At the same time, many local banks are closing the window of opportunity on their ag customers.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange Report.

(GRANGE)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.