“We need to be encouraging this ,” he said. “This helps everyone. … I’m trying to think of the downside. I can’t think of it.” – Washington County Commissioner Chair candidate Allen Amabisca on alternative fuel production at Summit Natural Energy
Did you catch the Oregonian story on Summit Natural Energy in Cornelius, Oregon? David McCoy, plant manager, opened his doors to local lawmakers and candidates this weekend, to highlight the economic and jobs opportunities arising due to Oregon’s alternative fuel sector.
Check it out:
At Summit, ethanol fuel is produced with all sorts of things – and it all would have ended up in a landfill otherwise.
“Anything that’s got starch and sugar, it can come here, and we can convert it,” McCoy said.
Local lawmakers and candidates for public office toured the facility on Saturday morning. Allen Amabisca, who is challenging Andy Duyck in the race for chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, said businesses like Summit are “exactly what we want.”
“We need to be encouraging this,” he said. “This helps everyone. … I’m trying to think of the downside. I can’t think of it.”
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Angela Crowley-Koch of the Oregon Environmental Council said companies like Summit would benefit from the Oregon Clean Fuels Program, which aims to cut the carbon in car and truck fuel by 10 percent per gallon by 2025. The program is set to expire at the end of 2015, but Gov. John Kitzhaber is working to extend it.
“We’re very proud of what we do here,” said Summit owner Mark Smith. “We’ve invested a lot in this.”
Summit Natural Energy is exactly the type of home-grown fuel we like to see in Oregon. Instead of sending money out of state to import gas and diesel, we can manufacture clean fuel here at home, providing jobs and economic development opportunities for Oregonians while cleaning our air. It’s a win-win situation.
The Clean Fuels Program, which requires fuel producers to cut carbon pollution in Oregon, would benefit companies like Summit by providing opportunities to open the market to alternative fuels at the pump. These alternatives provide consumers the ability to make an informed choice about what they want to use to fuel their lifestyle, as well as saving dollars.
Learn more: www.cleanfuelswork.com