Tolman Counters California Arguments

March 25, 2002

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) CEO Rick Tolman last week found himself defending the group's position on ethanol before representatives of the California Agriculture Leadership Program in St. Louis. Tolman was invited by the group to speak to them concerning NCGA's policies on ethanol.

"It was an informal meeting," he said, "mostly Q and A. I received a lot of really good questions from the group. The group was a mixture of growers, environmentalists and industry representatives."

Tolman said while most of the questions were cordial, there were a few sharp ones aimed at NCGA's backing of the MTBE ban and the promotion of ethanol in the Golden State. "A couple people questioned why we're 'forcing' ethanol on California," he said. "I explained to them we were not so much interested in California using ethanol but in an overall renewables program across the U.S., whether it's corn or other products, they really warmed up to that."

He said even though NCGA is disappointed with Gov. Gray Davis' recent announcement to extend the MTBE ban deadline by a year, the 32,000-member National Corn Growers Association is pleased to do business with the California growers.

"We're looking at going to California in April to help them develop an ethanol industry," he said, "sharing with them what we've learned, the mistakes we've made, the things we've been able to put together...they were quite excited by that."