June 16, 2009 - Denver, CO – When faced with great challenges, America’s ethanol industry has a history of doing great things. That is the message being delivered today by Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President Bob Dinneen to the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Denver, Colorado.

[Dinneen’s complete remarks as prepared for delivery can be seen here.]

“[I]n the U.S. ethanol industry, when we face great challenges, we do great things,” said Dinneen in prepared remarks. “Look at last year – in the face of a deepening economic downturn, negative 3% growth and rising unemployment, the U.S. ethanol industry grew by 34%, opening 31 new plants and adding an additional 240,000 new jobs! We produced more ethanol last year than ever before, some 9 billion gallons, and we added new markets in the southeast and northwest where the RFA had worked with the oil industry and state governments to tear down regulatory barriers to blending.”

But, as Dinneen notes, the ethanol industry isn’t without its troubles, “…with apologies to Meredith Wilson, ‘we got trouble’ Right here in River City, we got trouble, and that starts with T and that rhymes with E and that stands for one heck of a lousy Economy.”

Dinneen also addressed the challenges being posed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) inclusion of indirect land use changes (ILUC) in its proposed rule for the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Specifically, this line of thinking assigns blame for rainforest destruction in Brazil, for example, on biofuel producers in America. This theory has been widely criticized as lacking scientific backing and consensus. On top of the uncertainty behind this theory, EPA is unfairly applying ILUC only to biofuels.

“Such thinking is wreaking havoc on the positive environmental moniker of ethanol,” Dinneen stated. “But it can only be rehabilitated by working with scientists and environmentalists to answer the question of ethanol’s carbon footprint. We can’t legislate the criticism away, and we can’t ignore it. We need to answer the critics with sound science and facts. And the facts are on our side. Our carbon footprint is improving with every new plant and each new technology the people in this room are bringing into commercial application. Their carbon footprint is getting worse with every gallon of tar sands and every new deep water well they dig!”

Other topics Dinneen addressed included higher level blends, the fictitious food versus fuel debate, expansion of the market for ethanol, and the need to keep all of the noise about ethanol in perspective.

“If we stick together, do our work well, and stay focused on the future, our potential is unlimited – in the near-term, the long-term, and as far as our eyes can see and our minds can imagine.”

Dinneen’s complete remarks as prepared for delivery can be found here.