Farm Bill Planting Energy Seeds

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Through a series of creative financing proposals that include guaranteed loans, grants and aggressive research, the 2007 Farm Bill now before Congress provides seed money for the growth of alternative fuel production in the United States.

The legislation, a five-year spending plan that sets agricultural priorities across a broad spectrum of issues, could gain final House approval this week. When finished, the bill will establish farms, not oil refineries, as the focal point of U.S. energy policy.

Republicans and Democrats alike agree that the nation must break its addiction to foreign oil. Less clear, though, is how it goes about achieving that goal amid the tangled web of special interests that influence energy policy.

What has resulted from many months of often acrimonious and arduous debate is a $300 billion amalgamation of programs and allocations, a fairly significant chunk of which is aimed directly at developing technologies to produce ethanol and other fuels. The farm bill addresses a slew of other agricultural issues, but has been eyed this year primarily for how it will tackle alternative energy production.

CNN.com, July 24, 2007