As President Joe Biden’s administration continues to roll out plans to preserve soils and water it says are negatively affected by climate change, the country’s commodity organizations are weighing in with their respective views.
National Corn Growers Association CEO Jon Doggett told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Monday that biofuels could contribute to the nationwide effort.
Specifically, Doggett says he’s been encouraged by EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s reaction to the role biofuels could play in addressing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and even health-related issues.
“One way that we succeed in agriculture is when we solve somebody else’s problems,” Doggett says. “Fortunately, we have some products that meet those needs and solve those problems.”
He references a recent report by Argonne National Laboratory saying ethanol could address carbon dioxide (CO2), which makes up a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
“The report says ethanol contains about half the amount of carbon that gasoline does, which is a pretty cool statistic,” Doggett says.
Flory notes that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has not missed an opportunity to educate Regan and others in the Biden Administration about ethanol.
A need for infrastructure improvement. Doggett also addressed the American Jobs Plan during the AgriTalk segment.
He says the Biden Administration’s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal includes several provisions directly impacting corn growers and rural communities.
Included in the Biden Administration plan is a proposed $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry, and ferries. An NCGA press release says the inland waterways system is essential to getting U.S. corn to export, with more than 60% of the grain produced in the United States being transported by barge.
Work needs to be done to bring the nearly 12,000 miles of commercially navigable channels and 240 lock sites up to date, Doggett says.
The complete AgriTalk discussion between Doggett and Flory is available here:
