Reps. Peter Welch and Steve King to Keynote: Biofuels Mandate: Defend, Reform, Or Repeal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, National Journal will host a policy summit with stakeholders from both sides of the debate over whether the renewable-fuel standard should be changed. The event, "Biofuels Mandate: Defend, Reform, or Repeal," will feature Peter Welch, Vermont's at-large Democrat, Steve King, Republican representative from Iowa, and others as they explore whether the mandate should be revised, eliminated, or remain as is, and what the Environmental Protection Agency can and should do to respond to concerns about the policy.

With a goal of weaning the nation's cars off foreign oil, Congress created the renewable fuel standard in 2007. This mandate requires increasingly large amounts of biofuels each year to be blended with gasoline. Because most of the mandate is currently met with corn-produced ethanol, last summer's drought sent corn prices soaring and focused intense bipartisan scrutiny on the renewable-fueld standard.

First Keynote Speaker
The Hon. Steve King, Iowa's Republican Representative

Second Keynote Speaker:
The Hon. Peter Welch, Vermont's At-Large Democrat

An experts panel follows, featuring:
Paul Beckwith, Chief Executive Officer, Butamax Advanced Biofuels
Michael Brower, Interim President & Chief Executive Officer, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
Rob Green, Executive Director, National Council of Chain Restaurants
Kris Kiser, President & Chief Executive Officer, Outdoor Power Equipment Institute
Peter Lehner, Executive Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Damon Wells, Vice President, Government Affairs, National Turkey Federation

The event will be moderated by:
Amy Harder, Energy and Environment Correspondent, National Journal

Additional speakers to be announced.

Wednesday's summit complements National Journal's new energy section. National Journal Energy and the Energy Edge were created to cover the big stories and minute-to-minute news on energy and environmental policies. The free newsletter Energy Edge is available here.

The event will be held at the Newseum's 3rd Floor, Knight Broadcast Studio, (555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. (8:00 Registration). For more information on the event and to RSVP, please visit:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/events/biofuels-mandate-defend-reform-or-repeal-20131009. The event will be live-streamed online at http://www.nationaljournal.com/events. Follow along with the Twitter hashtag #NJRFS.

This event is hosted by National Journal and underwritten by American Petroleum Institute.