HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	181
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

supporting the suspension of ethanol gas requirements in hawai‘i until hawai‘i-grown ethanol is available.

     WHEREAS, ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a renewable fuel often produced from agricultural feedstock such as corn, although other grains like wheat or barley can also be used; and

     WHEREAS, the use of ethanol as a fuel has various environmental benefits such as reductions in pollution, smog-forming emissions, and greenhouse gases; and

     WHEREAS, although ethanol offers these environmental benefits, there are some drawbacks to its use as a fuel source; and

     WHEREAS, some of these drawbacks include higher production costs that increase consumer costs, the lower energy availability in ethanol relative to gasoline, and the effects on the global food market of producing fuel from food sources; and

     WHEREAS, in the past year, the price of grain on the global market has increased by 83 percent; and

     WHEREAS, according to the Los Angeles Times, the World Food Program of the United Nations has been hit so hard by these skyrocketing grain prices that it may cut off food aid to some of the world's poorest countries even as global starvation worsens; and

     WHEREAS, using food to create fuel is also creating higher food prices for Americans; and

     WHEREAS, it takes the same amount of corn, one of the major food sources being used to produce ethanol, to feed one person for an entire year, as it does to make enough ethanol for one tank of gasoline; and

     WHEREAS, Hawai‘i passed Act 257 in 1997, requiring that gasoline sold within the state contain ten percent ethanol by volume as an environmental initiative and to stimulate local ethanol production, as well as the economy; and

     WHEREAS, some research indicates that making ethanol from cellulosic materials, such as switchgrass and sugarcane, is a better alternative than grain-based ethanol, saves more petroleum, reduces a greater amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and may be more environmentally friendly; and

     WHEREAS, to date, no ethanol production facility has been built in Hawai‘i and ethanol for use in Hawai‘i is shipped into our state; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that this body supports the suspension of ethanol gas requirements in Hawai‘i until such time that a locally grown supply of biofuel is available and ethanol is able to be produced within the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body supports the exemption of aircraft and two-stroke engines from ethanol requirements; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body further supports the creation of tax incentives for the modification of existing, locally owned sugar plantations into ethanol production facilities, creating quality jobs for Hawai‘i's working families; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawai‘i's Congressional delegation.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Supporting the suspension of ethanol gas requirements in Hawai‘i until Hawai‘i grown ethanol is available.