David Swenson, associate scientist, was interviewed in a Jan. 18 Star Tribune story, "Why ethanol endures as important market for Midwestern farmers."
That was not how it was supposed to play out. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which succeeded the law that created the RFS, “set extraordinarily optimistic goals for future ethanol production,” said David Swenson, an economist at Iowa State University who follows the ethanol industry. “We were at the peak of energy nationalism in the United States,” and the country was increasingly dependent on foreign oil. The idea was to produce more domestic energy. “Then all of sudden we had the shale oil revolution, and everything changed.”
He was also interviewed on the recent federal court decision which may reduce the number of small refinery waivers the EPA issues in the future for
Iowa Public Radio, Jan. 27
While that might be temporarily reassuring for the industry, Iowa State University economist Dave Swenson says the bigger problem it faces comes from within.
“If I'm going to point my finger and say, you know who's to blame? I'm going to say 10 percent of the industry's problems have to do with EPA indifference to, perhaps, EPA regulations as they were originally written,” Swenson said. “And the other 90 percent is probably the industry, in and of itself, over producing.”
Swenson had several recent contacts with members of the media:
Maura Barrett, NBC News, about the economic impact of the caucuses.
Amy Walter, Politics with Amy Walter (WNYC), about Iowa’s economy and how different regions of the state are doing.
Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register, about how Iowa fell behind most states after Great Recession.
Robert Connelly, Quad City Times, about the impacts of the new Phase 1 China USA agreement and the USMCA for Iowa manufacturers and farmers.
Alan Rappaport, NY Times, about the Iowa economy and, in particular, how the more rural parts of the state are doing.
Scott Horsley, NPR, about Iowa’s dependence on foreign export markets and how sensitive Iowa manufacturing is to slow global growth and to the trade tensions with China; and Danielle Kurtzleben, about the Iowa economy going into the caucuses as it compares to the nation.
Kathy Bolton, Business Record, about the pending announcement of an Amazon fulfillment center in Bondurant and the impact of the center on the metropolitan economy.
Adam Brewster, CBS News, on the economics of the Iowa caucuses.