BOXER SEEKS DEFINITIVE GAO BIOFUELS REPORT FOR FALL CLIMATE DEBATE

摘要

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to prepare by September a comprehensive report on biofuels examining nearly all regulatory and policy hurdles for the government on renewable fuels, so that the report can inform the upcoming climate debate in Boxer's environment panel.rnThe report is still moving through agency review, but is slated for release by the end of the August recess as the climate debate resumes in the Senate, where the Environment & Public Works Committee that Boxer chairs has primary jurisdiction on drafting a climate bill. GAO sources say the task of pulling together a report on biofuels by September, given the many policy issues that have arisen in recent years, has been a "Herculean" task.rnThe goal of the report is to give the Senate environment committee an objective sense of the current state of biofuels production and policy challenges, including environmental impacts on water use, air quality, and land and soil use, the source said. The report also examines the agricultural impacts, including how biofuels policy can drive up food commodity prices and raise the price of beef, poultry, and other livestock food products due to increased demand for feed grains for fuel production, these sources said.