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As i said earlier, we are producing more biofuels right now than at any point in
our history.
In fact,
production has increased more than forty percent over the last three years.
So this is an industry that's creating jobs and driving economic growth - especially
in rural America -
but to the benefit of all Americans.
That's because the industry's helping to protect our environment and bring the
country closer to energy independence.
For all of those reasons, this Administration has been committed to
building a robust biobased economy,
with biofuels as a pillar of the President's "all-of-the-above" energy
strategy.
That's why,
for example, we stand firmly behind the Renewable Fuel Standard, which we think
is a critical tool to promote continued growth in the renewable fuels
industry in the years ahead.
And we've taken a number of steps to encourage deployment of the biofuels
technologies we have in hand today,
while also accelerating the development of new fuel technologies in our labs
and at commercial scale.
On the deployment side, the Department of Energy and the Environmental
Protection Agency have been working to create new opportunities for today's
biofuels to play a bigger role in transportation.
For example, the Administration has provided a path forward for E-15.
In addition, the Department of Agriculture has funded more than 130
projects that are currently producing enough renewable fuel to keep
five million vehicles on the road every year.
And to help develop the infrastructure needed to bring biofuels to the
marketplace,
last year USDA provided financial assistance to support 250
blender pumps across the country.
In a parallel effort, we are working to rapidly develop and deploy the next
generation of advanced biofuels - everything from cellulosic fuels
to algae oils.
DOE has invested over one billion dollars - which has been cost shared at
1.7 billion in private-sector investment -
to support 29 biorefineries, including a number of commercial scale
projects.
USDA has also helped to push the envelope when it comes to advanced
biofuels.
To date, they've supported efforts to build more than a half dozen advanced
biorefineries across the country.
To build on those efforts, just last week the Administration announced new
investments to speed the development of "drop-in" biofuel substitutes for
diesel and jet fuel.
This is part of the broader effort by the Navy, DOE, and USDA, to support
the commercialization of drop-in biofuels
that can meet the fuel needs of the United States military and the
commercial aviation and shipping sectors.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that the U.S. military is stepping up to the plate.
That's business as usual for them.
That's what they do.
Now, to be clear, the Defense Department isn't embracing clean energy and renewable
fuels because it sounds good.
They're doing it because it makes sense from an operational and national
security perspective.
Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped some in Congress from putting forward
short-sighted legislation that would undermine the military's ability to
invest in alternative fuels.
And this gets to my point earlier - that some folks, especially here in Washington,
are resistant to change, even when it's so clearly needed.
As Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta put it recently, "these efforts could
deprive commanders of the flexibility
they need to meet tactical and operational needs and make us more
exposed to potential supply disruptions
and future price volatility of petroleum products. Moving forward,
we all know there's a lot more work to be done to create a more robust
bio-economy,
and more broadly, a clean energy economy.
But all of the progress I've talked about today is a testament to what we
can do when we don't let the absence of an overnight solution to our energy
challenges serve as a reason to do nothing at all.
So we've got to keep at it.
Congress in particular needs to get beyond the short-termism and short-
sightedness that causes boom and bust cycles in clean energy.
We can't build these industries up only to tear them back down.
The United States is not going to win the clean energy race if we're only
planning ahead one year at a time.
Instead, we need to take the long view, make a sustained effort, and swing for
the fences.
Over the long haul, that's the only way we'll solve America's toughest energy
challenges.