By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent GALESBURG, Ill. — Illinois State Rep. Donald Moffitt (R-74th) was successful in pushing through two agriculture-related measures in the Illinois General Assembly, which were approved by Gov. Patrick Quinn before the House left Springfield in late May.
From his office in Galesburg, Moffitt told Farm World that a bill he sponsored establishing a GPS-type website designed to bring together Illinois crop pesticide applicators and specialty growers and another encouraging the U.S. Congress to get serious about biofuels in light of the Gulf oil disaster have passed. A third bill sponsored by Moffitt, which would encourage automakers to construct flex-fuel and hybrid vehicles in Illinois was not passed and will be reintroduced.
Illinois House Resolution (HR) 1240, passed on May 27, urges U.S. Congress members to prioritize production of biofuels over fossil fuels in light of the April 20 oil spill caused when the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, taking 11 human lives. “If we didn’t have this heavy reliance on oil, if we’d have really gotten serious about promoting biofuels, the tragic event in the Gulf may have not occurred,” said Moffitt. “We’ve got to keep pushing.”
In addition to being a domestic, renewable product, biofuels are safer to produce than fossil fuels and are more secure from disasters such as the Gulf oil spill or Hurricane Katrina.
“Biofuel plants are generally small and spread out geographically, so the risk from nature, terrorism and (human or machine error) is greatly reduced. This is really an issue of national security,” Moffitt explained. “Going back to Katrina, that one hurricane threatened 25 percent or more of (U.S.) refining capacity. If we increase our use of biofuels, no one storm or incident could threaten our supply.”
Moffitt added that ethanol and biofuels are not contaminants like oil, and are not mined from the sea floor, but rather grown in U.S. farmers’ crop fields. And since most current biofuels investors are Americans, profits from biofuels may also stay in the U.S.
“Until we get really serious about changing our habits, we’re going to continue to have incidents like in the Gulf,” said Moffitt. “We’re sending this resolution to members of (U.S.) Congress to try and raise their awareness levels while pointing out the huge advantages of biofuels. The sooner we make the transition, the better and safer it will be for everyone.”
Moffitt and Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria, Ill.), were also able to pass Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 105 before the Illinois House finished their spring session.
“This resolution asks the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) to set up a system that can identify where sensitive crops are located, and will help aerial applicators of crop pesticides to know where these fields are,” said Moffitt.
“Specialty crop producers need to register with the IDOA to be included in the system. This opens the door for the opportunity for communication between applicators and specialty crop growers.
“Traditional farmers need to be able to protect their crops, but we need to respect the specialty crop growers. We need to protect both, and this is a major step towards them being able to work side-by-side,” he added.
The legislation Moffitt is perhaps most excited about, however, never made it out of the House Rules Committee. House Bill 4777 would amend the Illinois Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act to make new flex-fuels vehicles, new hybrid vehicles and new electric vehicles exempt from taxation when such vehicles are manufactured in-state. The bill has been stalled in the rules committee since March 15.
“This bill creates jobs and puts an emphasis on biofuels rather than fossil fuels. It gives an incentive for automakers to build flex-fuel vehicles in Illinois. I think it could possible be enough incentive for a manufacturer to put a plant in Illinois,” said Moffitt.
He plans to reintroduce the bill, which carries a 10-year “sunset” clause, in 2011. |
