WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a grant of $472,000 to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in Des Moines through the State Energy Program.
“As energy prices continue to rise, it’s important to look at renewable energy sources such as wind, biodiesel, biomass, solar and ethanol. We also need to look at what each of us can do to conserve and use energy more wisely,” Grassley said.
The Department of Energy State Energy Program provides grants to states to design and carry out their own renewable energy efficiency programs.
Iowa has previously used its money to help expand renewable fuel use, make buildings more energy efficient, and study the use of wind energy on family farms.
Grassley has long promoted policies to grow a domestic renewable fuels industry. Grassley, a longstanding advocate of ethanol, is currently working to dispel the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s DC-hatched smear campaign against ethanol that Grassley says is “intellectually dishonest and misleading.”
Grassley was also the author of legislation that created the first-ever wind energy production tax credit in 1992. He’s led numerous successful efforts to extend the tax incentive in its current, uncapped form. As the ranking member on the Senate Finance committee, which handles tax policy, Grassley has also spearheaded efforts to increase the use of biomass and biodiesel.