From: Biodesel Magazine
News Link: http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=3564
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) sent a letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson last Thursday criticizing EPA’s indirect land use modeling, which has an impact on the implementation of RFS2.
“According to this theory, an increase in production of biofuels in the United States results in decreased grain exports to other countries, which in turn leads those countries to cut down their forests to plant more crops,” Johanns stated in an official release. “However, deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest has actually decreased since U.S. [biofuels] production began to increase significantly in 2005.”
Also, Johanns requested that the public comment period regarding implementation of RFS2 be extended by 120 days. “I hope that the outcry from industry helps the cause to modify the implementation of RFS2,” said Debbie Borg, president of the Nebraska Soybean Association. “Sen. Johanns joining in is very welcomed because he is a former Secretary of Agriculture with a lot of experience and credibility in this area.”
“The bottom line is this—the theory connecting [biofuels] production to changes in land use thousands of miles away is fundamentally flawed,” Johanns said. “Even worse, the methods EPA wants to use are unscientific, unsubstantiated and not based on facts. If EPA incorporates indirect land use in this manner when implementing the RFS, it will be very costly for farmers…and could actually increase our dependence on foreign energy."