Green Options

Yesterday was a big day for the biofuels industry. President Obama issued a presidential directive to the USDA to expand access for biofuels that includes $800 million to fuel biofuels research. The purpose of the directive, in part, is to aggressively accelerate the investment and production of biofuels. What the directive does not do, is set dollars aside to help improve the infrastructure for higher ethanol blends including E85 although it encourages production of more flex-fuel vehicles.

This announcement appears to be serious, at least as serious as a government proclamation can really be– they created another committee to oversee that the presidential directive. The USDA, EPA and DOE will form a Biofuels Interagency Working Group with a mission to increase energy independence in part through the development of the nation’s first comprehensive biofuels market development program.

In a press conference today, Obama will announce the appointment of Lisa Jackson as Head of the EPA and Stephen Chu as Energy Secretary.

After 8 years of cronyism–that lead to the neglect and dismantling of a myriad of environmental protections–it’s going to seem weird to Mother Earth to actually feel protected.