Waxman-Cox Amendment Worries Ethanol Supporters

July 31, 2001

Ethanol industry officials are on the alert for an amendment to the energy bill that could come before the full House for action this week. The amendment seeks to waive the oxygen requirement in reformulated gasoline sold in California, and that would threaten an ethanol industry on the verge of dramatic expansion to meet California's needs.

"Even though the National Corn Growers Association and its allies defeated the Waxman-Cox amendment in the House Energy and Commerce Committee ... right now the amendment is threatened to be part of the rule that will bring the energy bill to the floor," said NCGA Vice President of Public Policy Bruce Knight.

"The great danger lies in allowing the entire membership of the House to vote on this amendment. NCGA is urging corn growers to contact their congressional representatives and ask them to vote against the amendment. If the amendment is not voted down prior to floor action, corn growers and ethanol's allies will face a tenacious floor fight."

Knight noted that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has continued to press his amendment and shows no sign of backing off. "To win this battle, corn growers and their congressional allies will have to go to the wall," Knight said.

A letter to House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA) sent by NCGA President Lee Klein expressed "our (NCGA's) strong opposition to additional votes on the amendment offered by Mr. Cox and Mr. Waxman during the debate in the Energy and Commerce Committee."

Noting that nearly four hours of debate resulted in the amendment's decisive loss, Klein wrote, "that waiving the oxygen requirement for California or other states using reformulated gasoline (RFG) does not reflect sound science or public policy because it would increase consumer gasoline prices and lead to increases in harmful vehicle emissions."

Citing the two-year process of soliciting and placing scientific and technical data in the Environmental Protection Agemcy's docket that has provided ample opportunities for analysis and debate, Klein said, "The President, the experts at EPA and members of the Committee of jurisdiction have spoken and their decisions should stand. We urge the Rules Committee to reject calls for additional debate or votes on the Clean Air Act oxygen requirement."