(July 7, 2011)  Washington – Reacting to the statements released by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announcing an agreement on a proposed ethanol tax reform package, Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) offered the following statement:

“We appreciate the willingness of Senators Klobuchar, Thune and Feinstein to put advanced biofuels at the forefront of ongoing negotiations about how to innovate and reduce the cost of U.S. ethanol policy. This agreement has enough of the right ingredients to move the conversation forward. At the same time, there is a fundamental problem with how the advanced biofuels piece is crafted that will need to be addressed to be meaningful to the industry. While we appreciate the ambition to lengthen the duration of the tax credits, the last minute switch from a yearly credit to a gallon-based, capped credit adds artificial and unnecessary layers of uncertainty and risk for the financing community. As the President said yesterday, it is critical to U.S. energy security and U.S. national security to get this right. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to fix these deficiencies before the proposal is enacted into law. We particularly appreciate Senators Klobuchar and Thune for their dogged commitment to reforming rather than terminating the federal commitment to renewable fuels, and their steadfast protection of tax incentives designed to create jobs and promote alternatives to foreign oil.”