Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Some Iowa political heavy-hitters joined forces in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to push for passage of the renewable fuels provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was joined by Iowa Republican colleague Sen. Chuck Grassley and Iowa Gov. Chet Culver for a press conference in which they highlighted the importance of the renewable energy initiatives in the Farm Bill.
"With gasoline prices well above $3 a gallon and home heating oil prices near record levels, there is no longer any debate about the need to ramp up production of home-grown renewable fuels and energy," said Harkin. "That's exactly what the new farm bill does. And that's why I am fighting to end the procedural logjam and get the farm bill passed as soon as possible."
Culver said he was especially excited about the provisions to bolster research and development of new renewable energy sources in the farm bill. "I believe that diversity is the key when it comes to our energy future, and our energy security," said Culver.
The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Oct. 25, but passage of the Farm Bill by the full Senate has been bogged-down since Nov. 5 as senators have argued about the number of amendments that will be allowed for debate. A cloture motion to end the debate and force a vote on the bill failed to pass on Nov. 16. Another cloture motion has been filed this week, with a vote scheduled for Friday.
Click here to listen to audio of Harkin and Culver discussing the bill.
Photo courtesy Harkin Senate staff
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