Clinton visits Pioneer facilities, talks ethanol

Monday, March 5, 2007, 11:35 AM

By O.Kay Henderson

New York Senator Hillary Clinton is touring the research facilities at Pioneer Hi-Bred at this hour, emphasizing her recent call to dedicate more federal resources to the production of ethanol using the entire plant, not just the kernels.

Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, suggests the federal government should spend $50 billion dollars on projects that help reach the goals of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Clinton argues a federal "Strategic Energy Fund" would help more rapidly deploy already-existing technology and accelerate the production of ethanol from the entire corn plant.

Clinton also wants a new federal agency to focus on energy projects. "A research agency similar to one that was started after Sputnik went up called DARPA which stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency," Clinton said this morning during an interview with Radio Iowa. "It was out of that agency that we had inventions like the Internet."

Radio Iowa Continued