Feb. 7: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold an oversight hearing on energy market effects of the recently enacted renewable fuel standard at 9:30 a.m. in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Why it matters: Congress enacted the first federal renewable fuel standard as part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act but expanded it significantly (in what some observers considered the corn ethanol lobby's last chance for government supports) as part of the most recent energy bill toward the end of 2007.
Scheduled witnesses include National Petrochemical and Refiners Association President Charles T. Drevna, who has frequently criticized motor fuel mandates. He has said that Congress set the most recent goals without fully considering whether the capacity or knowledge to produce such fuels exists.
Also scheduled to appear are Alexander Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the Department of Energy; Robert Meyers, principal deputy administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation; Carol Werner, executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute; Michael McAdams, executive director of the Advanced Biofuels Coalition; Bob Dineen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, and Brian Jennings, executive director of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
