December 4: Kaptur, Two Cabinet Members Make Major Jobs Announcement in Toledo

st1\:* {BEHAVIOR: url(#ieooui)}@page Section1 {margin: 1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; size: 8.5in 11.0in; mso-header-margin: .5in; mso-footer-margin: .5in; mso-paper-source: 0; }P.MsoNormal {MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-style-parent: ""; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"}LI.MsoNormal {MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-style-parent: ""; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"}DIV.MsoNormal {MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-style-parent: ""; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"}P {FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto}DIV.Section1 {page: Section1}“The biorefinery project represents a significant investment in jobs and a commitment to the economic future of our region,” said Congresswoman Kaptur. “Our area is recognized worldwide as a leader in solar energy, but now we are putting our stake in the ground in another aspect of alternative energy: biofuels.”




Kaptur said the project will create at least 100 jobs in the short-term, including construction jobs, with the potential for many more.

Federal funding for the project will total $19.9 million and will be derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly known as the economic stimulus plan. "Our goal is to put our people to work in an industry that can help America break its dependence on imported petroleum,” Kaptur said.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, came to Toledo to roll out $564 million in Recovery Act funding to accelerate the construction of 19 biorefineries around the country, including the Toledo pilot project. The Toledo project is a key part of the Obama Administration’s strategic initiative for full commercial-scale development of a biomass industry in the United States.

“Advanced biofuels are critical to building a cleaner, more sustainable transportation system in the U.S.” said Secretary Chu. “These projects will help establish a domestic industry that will create jobs here at home and open new markets across rural America.”

The Toledo pilot plant will refine biodiesel—which Secretary Chu noted will be an end product that requires no additional processing in order to be used in diesel engines—out of agricultural and forest product residue.

Secretary Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, called the project “a new day” and said it offers enhanced economic opportunity for Ohio farmers.

"The development of renewable energy is a critical component of our efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural America," Secretary Vilsack said. "This farm bill program is instrumental in increasing our energy independence and expanding new technologies and markets for agricultural and environmental waste material."

Kaptur emphasized the importance of alternative energy to an overall strategy to diversify the economic base of Northern Ohio. “This facility can reach so much of the nation. Approximately 100 million people live within a 500-mile radius of Toledo. It really weds our industrial production, our renewable energy expertise and agriculture,” said Kaptur, who serves on the agriculture appropriations subcommittee in the 111th Congress.

The Toledo pilot project was selected in a highly competitive process. The applicants include Red Lion Bio-Energy LLC, a Toledo-based firm, along with the California-based Renewable Energy Institute International and Pacific Renewable Fuels.