Current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack visited Newton and Prairie City Tuesday as part of the USDA's and the Obama administration's promotion of biofuels to combat U.S. foreign oil dependency.
In their first public appearance together, Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson toured the REG biodiesel plant on Newton's northeast side. Before being briefed on the plant’s operation, Vilsack and Jackson also attended a closed-door round table discussion on the potential of inedible corn oils, waste remaining from food production, as a viable fuel source.
Vilsack said biofuels play a key role in the president's plan to reduce dependency on foreign oil by one-third in the coming decade.
REG is based in Ames and produces 30 million gallons of biodiesel annually from its Newton facility. Sources ranging from animal fats to soy bean oils provide material for the fuels. Representatives from the ethanol and biodiesel industries joined Vilsack and Jackson in the discussion, as well as local state Rep. Dan Kelly and Newton Mayor Chaz Allen.
The trip was a show of support for an industry that currently is the recipient of federal subsidies to sustain its viability.
The secretary told reporters at a 1600 acre row crop farm in Prairie City that roughly 10 percent of the cuts in the recent budget battle in Washington came from the USDA's ledger, and conservation programs could see the biggest pinch. But he said as longs as his department does not receive further cuts, the programs "should be in good shape."
Gordon Wassenaar owns and operates the farm visited by the secretary and administrator. He said soil conservation was the topic of his chat with the former governor.
