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Indirect land use amendment fails by 1 vote

A move to reject indirect land use calculations for the U.S. ethanol industry was narrowly rejected last week in the House Appropriations Committee which passed a 2010 spending bill for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency. The amendment, by Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), to block EPA from using indirect land-use calculations when measuring biofuels greenhouse gas emissions within the RFS rule failed in a vote of 29 to 30.Several protections for large livestock operations, however, made it into the $10.6 Billion EPA spending bill for 2010. On a voice vote, one would prevent the government from requiring livestock producers to obtain permits under the Clean Air Act. Another would prevent funding of any bills that support rules of mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases from manure management systems at large industrial farms.

 House Appropriations Committee:  2010 Interior and Environmental (EPA) funding bill summary