Biofuels bill passes with flying colors

The Oregon House of Reps passed the biofuels bill today. (Watch for my story on the bill in Monday's DJC.)

The session started with one representative after another standing to voice some reservations, then referring their reservations to the Senate for further debate before ultimately voting in favor of the bill.

Discussions went on for over an hour (about midway through one Rep's aide leaned over to comment that everything had been said but not everyone had said it).

Everyone seemed to be clamoring to show their support. Only one Representative stood to say she would not be voting for the bill: Kim Thatcher, a Republican from Keizer.

"I'm definitely all for biofuels and renewable energy, in fact I have a PV, a photovoltaic system on the roof of my business and I would really like to support this bill 100 percent but there are some things that need to be fixed. I'm going to withold my support at this time and hopefully it will get fixed on the Senate side," Thatcher said.

Now the bill goes to Senate committee. I'll be watching to see which issues the Senate takes up -- if they take on all the issues mentioned on the floor of the house today, it could take a while to reach a vote.