According to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (Democrat-Calif.), Thursday’s passage of the ethanol mandate in the comprehensive nationwide energy bill is detrimental to California.

“While I fully support increased usage of renewable fuels, the ethanol mandate in the Energy Bill is bad for my home state of California.”

Boxer stated that California will be forced to rely on the costly shipping of ethanol from the Midwest, where 99 percent of ethanol in the United States is produced. Complying with the mandated federal ethanol requirement could result in gasoline price spikes and shortages, said the senator.

Meanwhile, the Senate passed an amendment introduced by Boxer early Thursday that will provide cellulosic biomass ethanol, ethanol derived from sources other than corn, special consideration under the proposed ethanol mandate.

Each gallon of cellulosic biomass ethanol would be considered equivalent to 1.5 gallons of corned-based ethanol under the mandate, while cellulosic biomass derived from agricultural residue would be equal to 2.5 gallons of renewable fuel.

“While my amendment to encourage the production of agricultural residue ethanol will provide California some flexibility in meeting the mandate, my fear is that the mandate will only further destabilize an already volatile gasoline market,” added Boxer.

“I was also disappointed that the Senate rejected my amendment to remove the 'safe harbor' liability waiver that shields ethanol refiners from design defect lawsuits should ethanol cause harm to public health or the environment. It is bad public policy to give an exclusive liability exemption to ethanol - the only fuel additive to have it,” said the senator.