PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:  GROWING CLEAN
ENERGY FOR THE 21st CENTURY
                           August 12, 1999

Today, President Clinton will announce new steps to spur bio-based
technologies that can help grow the economy, enhance U.S. energy security, and
meet environmental challenges like global warming. The President will issue an
Executive Order coordinating Federal efforts to accelerate these 21st century
technologies - which can convert crops, trees, and other "biomass" into a vast
array of fuels and materials - and set a goal of tripling U.S. use of bioenergy
and bioproducts by 2010.  Meeting this goal could create $15 billion to $20
billion in new income for farmers and rural America, and reduce annual
greenhouse gas emissions by over 100 million tons - the equivalent of taking
more than 70 million cars off the road.  In addition, the President will call on
Congress to approve his proposed research funding and tax credits to promote
energy efficiency, bioenergy, and other clean energy sources.

New Economic Opportunities for a New Century.  Advances in farm, forestry, and
other biological sciences are fueling a revolution in the use of biomass (trees,
crops, and agricultural and forestry wastes) to make low polluting products,
such as:
       transportation fuels, like cellulosic ethanol from agricultural waste;
       electricity, by burning willows and switchgrass along with coal in
       existing plants and by converting paper industry by-products into fuel
       gases; and, commercial products, such as chemicals, glues, paints - even
     furniture and textiles.
By creating high-tech jobs and new economic opportunities, meeting the
President's goal of tripling U.S. use of bioenergy and bioproducts could add $15
billion to $20 billion in new income for farmers and many rural communities.

Cleaner Energy, Cleaner Environment.  Bioenergy and bioproducts can
dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global
warming.  Since crops absorb carbon during growth, their use for energy and
other applications results in near zero net carbon release.
     Tripling our use of bioenergy and bioproducts by 2010 will reduce
annual greenhouse gas emissions  by over 100 million tons - the equivalent of
taking over 70 million cars off the road.
     In addition, the deep-rooted plants commonly used for biomass are
helpful in controlling erosion, filtering chemicals from water runoff, and
slowing floodwaters.

Energy Security.  Meeting the President's goal of tripling our use of
bioproducts and bioenergy will allow us to cut back on the almost 4 billion
barrels of oil we are projected to import in 2010.

Federal Leadership.  Leading scientific and industry groups are calling for a
stronger Federal role to help move these promising technologies from the
laboratory to the marketplace.  Today's Executive Order creates a powerful new
research management team focused on an ambitious set of goals.   It:
     Establishes a permanent council consisting of the Secretaries of
Energy and Agriculture, the EPA Administrator, the Director of the National
Science Foundation, and other agency heads to develop a detailed biomass
research program to be presented annually as part of the Federal budget.
     Directs the council to review major agency regulations, incentives and
programs to ensure that they effectively promote the use of bioproducts and
bioenergy.
     Creates an outside advisory group with representatives from bio-based
industries, farm and forestry sectors, universities, and environmental
groups.

In a separate Executive Memorandum, the President instructed the
Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture to prepare a report within the next 120
days on options for modifying existing DOE and USDA programs with a goal of
tripling U.S. use of bio-based products and bioenergy by 2010.

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