Photograph by Shawn Yorks, The Guymon Daily Herald/Associated
Press Photograph by Dirk Lammers, Associated Press Published
July 21, 2010 By now, well into the 21st century, at least some
U.S. cars were supposed to be running on an exciting new power
source—clean fuels refined from corn husks, timber waste and
tall, fast-growing grasses. But the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, acknowledging that not a single facility is
yet producing this advanced “cellulosic” ethanol, has proposed
dramatically scaling back a federal program to promote the fuel
for the second straight year. Instead of requiring that the oil
industry blend 250 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol into
the gasoline sold at the pump next year, as Congress envisioned
under the Renewable Fuels Standard program, the EPA said July 12
that it intends to cut the 2011 mandate to 5 million gallons.
That’s the same level of cellulosic ethanol the EPA required
this year, even though Congress had originally set a 2010 goal
of 100 million gallons. The