USDA Secretary Dan Glickman

With increased attention focused on greenhouse gases as a result of the Kyoto summit, ethanol's ability to contribute to greenhouse gas reductions is gaining attention. USDA Secretary Dan Glickman announced that the Department of Agriculture will contribute $10 million to explore the full potential of crop-derived fuels in developing solutions to global climate change. Of that $10 million, six million will be specifically targeted to biomass to energy research. Glickman stated that "agriculture can offer significant global warming solutions through cleaner-burning ethanol fuels."

Richard Rominger, Deputy Secretary of the USDA, testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee's hearing on the Kyoto Protocol that the production of ethanol offers an opportunity for agriculture to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction policies. "One agriculturally based renewable fuel already contributing to the environment today is ethanol, which reduces greenhouse gases relative to petroleum use," said Rominger.