National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey released the following statement on the California Air Resources Board’s passage of a proposed low carbon fuel standard:

“This new standard will hurt the domestic biofuels and related industries and increase our nation’s reliance on foreign oil. Board members ignored important estimates of corn yield growth trends as well as the expertise of more than 100 scientists, who disagreed with the proposal’s one-sided focus on indirect land use changes that will only penalize biofuels.

“This decision will also be harmful to our national economy. We may lose a tremendous opportunity to spur economic growth in agricultural communities. Furthermore, this decision will cost us the opportunity to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions by expanding American-grown biofuels and decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels.

“The Air Resources Board has also decided to set up an expert workgroup to look into the issue of indirect land use, and we are looking forward to collaborating with this group in the future so that the Board can help California succeed in its mission to reduce environmental impact without negative economic implications.”