They call themselves the Second Amendments and they played for us here at the Tuesday evening reception.
The Second Amendments is a band made up of a number of our Congressional representatives in Washington, DC. Only two of them were able to appear for us here. They were Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) on lead vocals and Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) on drums. They had excellent stand-ins to make up for the missing members.
Both of these Representatives will be taking part in today’s sessions so I’m sure we’ll hear more from them later.
You can also use this link to visit the video on YouTube itself if you’d like to see a larger version.
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Posted by Chuck • February, 21, 2007 • 7:27 am
General Motors is sponsoring a display of flex fuel vehicles here at the conference as we’ve mentioned previously.
This afternoon I had a chance to go on a test drive with Bob Dinneen at the helm and with him was Coleman Jones, Biofuels Implementation Manager, GM Powertrain.
We took a short drive around the complex and fortunately there were no tickets and we made it back safely.
In this video I asked Coleman about the vehicle we’re in as well as the others they have on display.
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Posted by Chuck • February, 20, 2007 • 5:57 pm
After Bobby Rahal’s speech at lunch today he posed for several pictures like this one.
Pictured are (l-r): Ron Fagen, Fagen, Inc., Bob Dinneen, RFA President/CEO, Bobby Rahal, Jeff Broin, Broin Companies and Dave Vander Griend, ICM. During his speech Bobby Rahal said he refers to Ron, Jeff and Dave as the Three Amigos.
They are all involved in the Team Ethanol sponsorship of Rahal-Letterman Racing.
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Posted by Chuck • February, 20, 2007 • 5:20 pm
He’s a former Indianapolis 500 winner and Rahal-Letterman Racing owner. He’s Bobby Rahal and he spoke to us today about ethanol and racing.
Bobby says that racing has always been the place that auto manufacturers have experimented with various technologies and fuel is no exception. He says that with the Indy Racing League moving to 100% ethanol this year and with the American Le Mans Series moving to a blend of ethanol that the message of how well the fuel performs while reducing our dependence on foreign oil will continue to reach the American public. He says that racing is a perfect venue to help provide accurate information to the consumer and combat misleading information that is still being circulated.
At lunch today, ICM President and CEO, Dave Vander Griend, introduced our speaker, Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Racing.
Dave took a moment to make a few comments and remember Paul Dana, the driver of the team ethanol car who was killed in a tragic accident just prior to the first IRL race of the 2006 season. He spoke about Paul’s passion for the industry and said that many other people here in the business are exhibiting that same passion.
One of the panels at this morning’s general session focused on what happens inside the beltway in Washington, DC.
They provided an interesting conversation about the political climate and congressional agenda for the coming year.
To get that perspective we heard from:
Jon Doggett, VP, Public Policy, National Corn Growers Association
Keith Cole, Director, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, General Motors
Bill Olson, Aide to Congressman John Shimkus, (R-IL)
John Felmy, Chief Economist, American Petroleum Insitute
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Posted by Chuck • February, 20, 2007 • 4:58 pm
With policy playing such an important role in the growth and development of the ethanol industry it was necessary to get the perspective from one of the government agencies that has a significant role in regulation.
To do that we heard from the Honorable Stephen Johnson, Administrator, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
He talks about President Bush’s 20-in-10 plan, to reduce domestic gasoline usage 20% by the year 2010. The plan calls for increased levels of renewable fuels. He says he’ll be working with Congress to pass the President’s Alternative Fuels Proposal.
We had a special presentation this morning at the Conference from former U. S. Trade Representative and now partner, Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw LLP, Mickey Kantor.
Kantor spoke on the subject of “Understanding Ethanol in a Global Marketplace.” He provided an interesting and at times amusing perspective on the subject.
The Honorable Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U. S. Department of Energy, was the keynote speaker at today’s Conference general session.
Karsner talks about the unprecedented calls to policy and calls to action and an accelerated time frame when it comes to resolving the issue of our addiction to foreign oil, a term he says that he and his department are comfortable with.
The first panel discussion held today focused on “Understanding the RFS Program and What It Means To You.” This panel provided a pretty rounded viewpoint on the whole issue. They discussed the regulations promulgated to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard and held a Q&A with the audience.
Panelists included:
Moderator: Chuck Knauss, Partner, Bingham McCutchen
Jim Redding: VP, External Relations, Aventine Renewable Energy, Inc.
Charles Drevna, Director of Policy & Planning, National Petrochemical & Refiners Association
Paul Machiele, Center Director for Fuel Programs, U. S. EPA
Scott Hughes, National Biodiesel Board
Dennis Magyar, Director, Pioneer/Dupont Biofuels
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Posted by Chuck • February, 20, 2007 • 12:27 pm
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They call themselves the Second Amendments and they played for us here at the Tuesday evening reception.
General Motors is sponsoring a display of flex fuel vehicles here at the conference as we’ve mentioned previously. 
After Bobby Rahal’s speech at lunch today he posed for several pictures like this one.
He’s a former Indianapolis 500 winner and Rahal-Letterman Racing owner. He’s Bobby Rahal and he spoke to us today about ethanol and racing.
At lunch today, ICM President and CEO, Dave Vander Griend, introduced our speaker, Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Racing.
One of the panels at this morning’s general session focused on what happens inside the beltway in Washington, DC.
With policy playing such an important role in the growth and development of the ethanol industry it was necessary to get the perspective from one of the government agencies that has a significant role in regulation.
We had a special presentation this morning at the Conference from former U. S. Trade Representative and now partner, Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw LLP, Mickey Kantor.
The Honorable Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U. S. Department of Energy, was the keynote speaker at today’s Conference general session.
The first panel discussion held today focused on “Understanding the RFS Program and What It Means To You.” This panel provided a pretty rounded viewpoint on the whole issue. They discussed the regulations promulgated to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard and held a Q&A with the audience.