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Today Congressman David Scott (D-GA) reported back from visits to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay that significant progress is being made to sustain renewable fuels infrastructure and development. Congressman Scott joined Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA), Ranking Member and upcoming Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN), and other members of the Agriculture Committee.

“South America is a world leader in agricultural productivity and important free trade region,” Congressman Scott said. “This trip was especially important to me as a Georgia Congressman because agriculture is our top business in Georgia and we must ensure viable export markets for the crops our farmers grow. It was also vitally important to gain an understanding of renewable fuels infrastructure, and how we can adapt that infrastructure to incorporate Georgia’s strengths and needs. For example, ethanol can now be made from pine trees and pine straw, which Georgia produces more of than any other state. We also produce corn, soybeans and other horticultural products from which ethanol can be produced.”

The trip included meetings with government and industry leaders in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to discuss agricultural practices, markets and trade. In Brazil, the delegation met with Elizabeth Martinez, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Beth Autry, the Agricultural Attache’, and participated in several briefings with U.S. agricultural companies and Brazilian business leaders.

“Brazil runs eighty percent of its automobiles on ethanol made from sugarcane,” said Scott. “There is much we can learn from Brazil as we in the United States urgently need to shift our oil dependency from the volatile and unstable Middle East, which now produces sixty-two percent of the world’s oil.”

In Uruguay, the group met with Vice President Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Rep. Julio Cardozo, President of the Uruguayan House of Representatives, and U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Frank Baxter.

In Argentina, the delegation met with the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Taiana, Secretary of Foreign Trade Alfredo Chiaradia, Minister of Economy and Production Felisa Miceli, and Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food Miguel Campos.

Congressman David Scott is a Democratic member of the Agriculture Committee, a leading voice for agriculture-based renewable fuels in Congress, and will be a major player in the upcoming Farm Bill negotiations.