Dear IndianaDG Readers:

Further amendments to the Senate Defense Programs Bill Continue on the floor of the US Senate.

To watch go to:  http://c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN2/ 

The vote was on S.Amdt. 2985 to S.3254 and was passed 62-37.

Indiana's US Senators voted as follows:

Lugar (R-IN) Yea

Coats (R-IN) Nay

Thank you Sen. Lugar!

Laura Ann Arnold

Statement by Phyllis Cuttino, director, Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate, regarding the passage of a National Defense Authorization Act amendment to preserve the Department of Defense’s ability to purchase and invest in advanced biofuels.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 28, 2012) – “Today, the U.S. Senate preserved the Department of Defense’s ability to purchase, test and certify advanced biofuels for ships, airplanes and vehicles. We applaud the 62 senators, including Mark Udall (D-CO) and co-sponsors, for supporting the military’s clean energy initiative. Advanced biofuels will help reduce the Pentagon’s dependence on foreign oil, protect the fuel budget against the volatile price of oil and strengthen our national security.”

NOTE:

There could be another vote on advanced biofuels. Sen. Kay Hagan’s (D-NC) amendment would strike Section 2823 (Sen. McCain) which would prohibit the Navy’s ability to provide funds for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the departments of Agriculture and Energy in fiscal 2013 unless Congress specifically authorized it through an act of Congress. The MOU, signed by President Barack Obama in 2011 (http://1.usa.gov/TfuS9Y), established the public-private initiative to spur commercial production of drop-in advanced biofuels for the military’s energy needs through the construction of biorefineries. We hope the sense of the Senate prevails on this matter as well.

Media Contact: Tracy Schario, tschario@pewtrusts.org, 202-540-6582