US Department of Agriculture begins policy shift under Vilsack; focuses on ethanol feasibility, best practices; climate change leadership

In Washington, the US Department of Agriculture commenced a policy shift when Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack pledged to direct the USDA to research and develop best practices for the ethanol industry to ensure its survival.

Vilsack also pledged that the Department of Agriculture will be the “national leader in the climate change” discussion. The emphasis on best practices and climate change is a shift for the USDA. Vilsack said, in his first news conference, that “we need to make sure that the biofuels industry has the necessary support to survive the recent downturn, while at the same promoting policies that will speed up the development of second and third generation feedstocks for those biofuels that have the potential to significantly improve America’s energy security and independence.”

Vilsack was confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture last week on a voice vote in the US Senate, and takes over a USDA still implementing the 2008 Farm Bill, which contains a loan guarantee program for biofuels plants for up to $250 million per project.

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