From The News Service of Florida:
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, May 23, 2013 A bio-energy company on the Treasure Coast is calling for Gov. Rick Scott to veto a measure that would repeal the state law requiring most gasoline sold in the state to include nearly 10 percent ethanol.
But based upon the relative ease in which the bill (HB 4001) moved through the Legislature, and a stack of emails sent to the governor’s office in support of the measure, Vero Beach-based INEOS New Planet BioEnergy has a hard road ahead.
“The production of ethanol costs more than the production of gasoline, takes huge amounts of corn out of the food system thus raising the cost of food and causes severe damage to internal combustion engines,” Linda Skidmore of Holiday emailed Scott.
Skidmore’s request for Scott to sign the bill was among the more than 1,000 emails sent to the governor this month in favor of repeal.
Still, regardless of how Scott acts, David Mica, executive director of Florida Petroleum Council, said the legislation may be mostly symbolic because of federal mandates that gasoline be mixed with ethanol or other biofuels.
The bill was sent to Scott on Monday. He has until June 4 to make a decision.
Scott joined several other governors in October in asking the U.S.
Environmental Protection Administration to suspend the requirement for putting a certain amount of ethanol into America’s gas tanks, saying it was causing a shortage of cattle feed for Florida ranchers.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Scott said he is reviewing the proposed legislation.
INEOS Bio CEO Peter Williams urged supporters on Wednesday to contact Scott against the bill. “Repeal of the state’s renewable fuels standard would send a clear signal to companies like ours and other investors that Florida is unfriendly to advanced biofuels, investing in new technology and jobs it creates or to building a clean energy economy,” Williams said in an email.
The bill is intended to repeal the 2008 Florida Renewable Fuel Standard Act, which requires most gas sold in the state to include nearly 10 percent ethanol.
During debate on the proposed repeal, House sponsor Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, called the law a “flawed business model” for government to require people to buy products. “Do we believe in free markets or not?” Gaetz asked.
Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, argued to keep the law in place, saying the repeal “does nothing but hurt the businesses that are here in Florida, and it hurts an industry that we are wanting to move to the state of Florida.”
INEOS Bio received a $50 million grant in December 2009 from the U.S.
Department of Energy to build the first full commercial bio-refining facility in the nation. The grant was considered part of a move to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and create new clean technology jobs.
The company is part of Switzerland-based INEOS, which is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products.
The Vero Beach plant, which is using yard and vegetative waste to produce its advance bioethanol, started to produce electricity in October. Eventually the plant is expected to provide enough energy to power its own facility and 1,400 homes in the Vero Beach area.
Despite Williams’ call for support of the law, the emails have remained overwhelming in favor of repeal.
Most of the email sent to Scott this past week, appearing under the subject line “Please Sign HB 4001, Repeal the Florida Ethanol Mandate,” is a form letter, while others that feature a more simple “HB 4001” subject line, offered impassioned comments to end the state law.
“I own an antique car, and it has screwed up my fuel system,” wrote GR Dornfeld of The Villages. “The Ethanol attracts water, and when my car sits for long periods, rust occurs. Also, the substance deteriorates all the rubber parts in the fuel system. I have had to replace the fuel tank, steel tube to deliver fuel forward from the tank, the fuel pump and carburetor on my 1939 Ford.”
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