Demand for ethanol for cars will attract enough support to pass a major farm bill next year, despite disagreement on subsidy payments for farmers, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin and Republican Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns agree.
Popularity of corn-based ethanol has soared because of high oil and gas prices. Corn prices have risen so high, and surpluses have dropped so low, however, that lawmakers want to find other crops to make ethanol and keep the industry growing.
Other crops, like switchgrass and sugar cane, can also be used to make ethanol.
PHOTO: AP
Secretary Johanns argues for distributing dollars more equitably, pointing out that fruit and vegetable growers get no subsidy checks even though their crops are worth as much as subsidized crops — corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and cotton.
Plenty of lawmakers disagree with that proposed change.
But both sides agree on the desire to spur production of ethanol, a grain alcohol that is blended with gasoline to make cleaner-burning fuel.
The land that will be used to grow the corn and other ethanol plants was previously marked as conservation land. Secretary Johanns made sure to point out that only a limited amount of this land would actually be used to grow new crops, and that most would still be conserved.
Johanns said he and Harkin have similar goals for conservation programs.
Harkin's counterpart in the House, Democrat Collin Peterson, is pushing the idea of a conservation program that would pay farmers to grow around 5 million acres (2 million hectares) of switchgrass and other noncorn crops for ethanol.(AP)
民主黨參議員湯姆．赫爾金與共和黨籍農業部長麥可．約翰斯達成協議，雖然他們對農民津貼有歧見，但鑒於汽車乙醇的需求，明年將通過一項重大農業法案。
由於油價居高不下，玉米提煉的乙醇日益風行。玉米價格漲幅驚人，剩餘量卻大幅下滑，國會議員盼能找出可製造乙醇的其他農作物，讓農業維持成長。
如軟枝草與甘蔗等其他農作物也可以用來製造乙醇。
約翰斯部長認為要更公平分配財源，他說雖然蔬果農人的作物與獲得津貼的作物（玉米、大豆、小麥、米、棉花）價值不相上下，卻未獲得津貼。
許多國會議員反對這項提案中的變革。
不過，民主與共和兩黨都認可增加乙醇生產量的需求。乙醇是可以與汽油滲合的穀物酒精，可製成燃燒較潔淨的燃料。
打算用來種玉米與其他可製乙醇的植物之土地原先被稱為「conservation land」。約翰斯部長肯定地指出，這些土地只有一小幅會拿來種玉米，大多數仍會作保育之用。
約翰斯說，他和赫爾金對保育計畫的目標相同。
赫爾金的盟友民主黨眾議員柯林．彼得森就推動一項保育計畫，希望能補助農民種植約五萬英畝（約兩百公頃）可提煉乙醇的軟枝草與其他非玉米作物。 （美聯社╱翻譯︰賴美君）
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A: The National Palace Museum (NPM) has launched an exhibition, titled “From Impressionism to Early Modernism.” There are 81 masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on display now. B: The exhibit, held to celebrate the NPM’s centennial, must be so spectacular. A: It includes artworks by 38 artists, such as Renoir, van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse and Gauguin. B: The Fubon Art Museum has also launched an exhibit featuring a number of artworks of Impressionism, including Monet’s “Water Lilies.” A: And the New Taipei City Art Museum just had its grand opening, so there are even more exhibitions
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