America’s Renewable Future (ARF) is less than one year old, but has already made an impact when it comes to educating presidential candidates about the importance of agriculture and renewable fuels.
Eric Branstad, son of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, was one of the main organizers of the coalition which just launched in January of this year. “Since then we’ve been building a large team, I like to call it an army, of supporters who are letting the candidates know how important the RFS and biofuels are to Iowa, to the Midwest and to the entire country,” said Branstad.
ARF has been very busy this past week at the Iowa State Fair talking to visiting candidates, including Republican front runner Donald Trump. “We had a 40 minute, one-on-one meeting with him,” said Branstad, who added that Trump’s knowledge about ethanol going into the meeting was negligible. By the end of the meeting, after getting a short course on the history and advancements of the industry, Branstad felt they had made an impression. “He said ‘I want to invest!’ so I guess that’s the best compliment we could get from Mr. Trump,” said Branstad.
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) recognized ARF with the organization’s policy and legislative leadership award this year.
Listen to my interview with Eric Branstad here: Interview with Eric Branstad, America's Renewable Future