What The Candidates Say : Rep. Rod Hamilton

  • Monday, 27 October 2014 00:00

We kickoff the final week before the mid-term elections with views from Rep. Rod Hamilton, who sits on the Agriculture Policy committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives and represents district 22B. Here are his views on biofuels:

I support the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as the industry is a vital part of the economy in rural Minnesota. I have authored several bills to encourage the production of renewable fuels and increase the amount of renewable fuels in gasoline sold in our state.

The current biofuel mandates are working -- if there were to be attempts to modify them in the future I would have to carefully weigh all relevant factors before I would decide to support or oppose any changes.

Minnesota has always been a leader in making renewable fuel products, especially with our support of ethanol and biodiesel. This past session I was co-author of HF2456, a bill that created an advanced biofuel capital equipment loan program and established producer payment programs for advanced biofuel development, renewable chemical production and biomass thermal production. The bill was well-received in the Agriculture Policy Committee but unfortunately did not survive the entire legislative process this year.

Investing in agriculture is always a good idea -- doing so creates good paying jobs in my district, and throughout the state. I will continue to advocate for increased use of biofuels as long as I have the honor of representing District 22B.

Come back to Blogging For Biofuels tomorrow to see what his challenger, Cheryl Avenel - Navara, says about biofuels.