Senate Committee on Agriculture Nutrition & Forestry

Field Hearing - April 18, 2000

Springfield, IL

Testimony by: Leon Corzine, President

Illinois Corn Growers Association

Mr. Chairman, Senator Fitzgerald, and members of the Committee, I am

Leon Corzine, a corn and soybean grower from Assumption in Shelby

County. I am testifying, today, on behalf of the Illinois Corn Growers

Association. Thank you for the opportunity to offer formal comments on

the issues facing the ethanol industry today.

Let me start off by addressing ICGA's concerns about the recent

recommendation's made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with

the blessing of the Clinton Administration, in regard to ethanol and

MTBE. It is our sentiment that this plan to fix the nation's clean air

program is offered with good intent, but it is lacking in real

substance. It fails to address the immediacy of the MTBE issue and the

current window of opportunity for ethanol.

EPA's plan will phase out the use of MTBE. This is a positive step

considering it contaminates water and damages the environment, but it

also eliminates the oxygenate requirement which is key to continued

ethanol use and market growth. ICGA opposes this strategy because

eliminating the oxygenate requirement due to the failure of MTBE

constitutes backsliding in our efforts to address air quality. We can

document the clean air success of this program and ethanol's ability to

keep it viable. Chicago offers a perfect example. We have used ethanol

almost exclusively in Chicago to meet clean air standards and the

results have been remarkable.

ICGA concurs with Senator Fitzgerald that Illinois citizens should not

have to choose between clean air and clean water. Ethanol has proven to

reduce emissions, especially carbon monoxide which is the number one

contributor to air pollution. And it can do so without the water

contamination associated with MTBE. MTBE has contaminated water

resources from Maine to California including 25 known sites in Illinois,

so it must be addressed as soon as possible. That's why we are

supporting Senator Fitzgerald's bill.

Ethanol provides the means to reach our environmental goals quickly and

painlessly, while also providing jobs and a boost to our economy.

Ethanol provides these clean air benefits in a cost competitive manner

compared to highly refined gasoline and other additives which might be

used in lieu of MTBE. Petroleum companies continue to tell EPA, the

Administration, and Congress they can meet federal clean air guidelines

without using oxygenates. However, no one is asking at what cost to

consumers and the environment? The bottom line is a consumers will pay

more for gasoline without ethanol, probably a lot more, according to the

institutional research firm BioScience Securities, Inc. of Orinda,

California.

Environmental benefits from oxygenates are clear. Long term

environmental and public health benefits resulting from the use of

oxygenates in reformulated gasoline, when compared to non-oxygenated

gasoline that meet RFG standards include:

? Fewer aromatics in gasoline

? Lower potency weighted toxic emissions and thus lower long term cancer

risk

? Reduced emissions of carbon monoxide

? Reduced ozone due to carbon monoxide

? Fewer fine particles in exhaust emissions

EPA has asked Congress to address this issue with a proposal that looks

good on the surface. ICGA is asking the Senate and the U.S. Congress as

a whole to make a real statement about our government's commitment to

clean air, fighting high fuel prices, and energy self sufficiency.

The Administration proposal also encourages establishment of a

"renewable fuel standard" for all gasoline. This proposal, similar to a

bill offered by Senator Tom Daschle or South Dakota, would require

gasoline sold in the U.S. to contain a small amount (estimated at 1-2%)

of renewable fuel.

There is nothing wrong with this concept, except the projected market

potential for ethanol would be little improved in its early years and

would be far less than leaving the oxygen requirement in place

Corn Growers also question why US EPA's proposal did not address the

concept of a carbon monoxide credit for ethanol. Illinois EPA Director

Tom Skinner presented this concept to U.S. EPA as a way to use science

to resolve ethanol's role in U.S. energy policy. ICGA agrees with Mr.

Skinner that ethanol should receive a carbon monoxide credit which will

allow its use year round in markets like Chicago where summer time heat

makes evaporative emissions an issue. A carbon monoxide credit is not

some kind of favor or special concession the growers and the ethanol

industry, but a natural response to the National Academy of Sciences

study on RFG. They concluded about 20% of the ozone (smog) produced in

non-attainment areas is caused by carbon monoxide. Ethanol cuts carbon

monoxide pollution by up to 25%. So the bottom line is if we remove

oxygen and replace it with aromatics the potential for ground-level

ozone or smog is notably higher.

We are at a watershed moment for ethanol. Years of research, building

of infrastructure, expanding corn supply, high gas prices and growing

public support leave us well positioned to finally make a national

commitment to our only domestically produced, renewable fuel supply.

Expanded ethanol product would give agriculture, which is in the

economic doldrums, a much needed lift; provide jobs in processing and

transportation, and help us reach our environmental goals responsibly.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.