Today in Biofuels Opinion: “A Valero representative endorsed [EPA's] emission assessments.”

From AlphaGalileo: “Clearing the Amazon rainforest increases Brazilian communities’ wealth and quality of life, but these improvements are short-lived, according to new research published 12 June in Science.  The study, by an international team including researchers at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, shows that levels of development revert back to well below national average levels when the loggers and land clearers move on.”

Don Carr, Environmental Working Group: “At an EPA public hearing on Tuesday, a Valero representative endorsed the agency’s emission assessments. But he said the assessments were irrelevant to the company since existing ethanol plants will not be required to meet the emission targets to qualify for the usage mandates. Valero’s John Braeutigam said the company knew when it acquired the plants that they were exempt from the emission targets, ensuring that “there would be a market for their production.”

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