Statement By Growth Energy on California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tom Buis, Chief
Executive Officer of Growth Energy, a group committed to the promise of
agriculture and growing America's economy through cleaner, greener energy,
today released the following statement on Growth Energy's position on
California's proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS):

"There has been some mischaracterization with respect to the position of
Growth Energy and other ethanol producers on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard,"
said Tom Buis. "Let me be clear, Growth Energy strongly supports efforts by
Governor Schwarzenegger and the ARB to reduce carbon emissions, and we support
the adoption of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that treats all fuels equally.

"One small section of the LCFS that is under consideration by ARB staff would
impose unfair standards in calculating the carbon intensity of fuels as part
of the LCFS and must be rejected," Buis added. "The ARB staff report released
last month calls for the adoption of a new and highly uncertain carbon penalty
against biofuels only, derived from an empirically flawed process that is not
based on real world data. This Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) penalty would
penalize only biofuels while ignoring the significant indirect effects of
other fuel types, including gasoline.

"Earlier in the month, 100 of the nation's top scientists and academics
submitted a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger warning him of the faulty
science behind ILUC and the risks of applying this to policy decisions," said
Buis. "In fact, the scientists upon whose data the ARB staff is relying were
quoted in an article a few short months ago saying there are 'large
uncertainties' in their modeling; that 'the GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions
from indirect land use change are highly uncertain' and that the 'science is
racing to catch up with the regulations.'" (Science Watch interview with
Daniel Kammen, September 2008)

Buis continued, "This is too important of a policy change not to get right.
While we support LCFS, we are asking the ARB to take the time they need to
study ILUC, evaluate its impacts across the entire energy spectrum, and not
just single out biofuels while the science races 'to catch up to regulations.'
We believe that this more complete analytical work will benefit the
environmental protection goals of the state regulators more completely in the
years ahead."

Earlier this month, Growth Energy released a policy briefing outlining the
problems with ILUC models and how adoption of such a policy could backfire on
the state's original goals of reducing carbon emissions. In addition, Growth
Energy recommended a series of alternative policies that the ARB could pursue,
which would be much more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read
the policy brief here:
www.growthenergy.org/GrowthEnergy/press/GE-Policy-Briefing-on-California.pdf.

About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing
America's economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members
recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform
and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing
our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More
information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.

SOURCE Growth Energy

Roger Salazar, roger@acostasalazar.com, +1-916-284-1255, for Growth Energy