Free Republic

A last-minute budget concession is heading to a struggling business founded by a political ally and generous campaign contributor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pacific Ethanol, a firm founded by state Republican Party fixture Bill Jones, would be relieved of a requirement to meet strict environmental standards by a change quietly inserted into budget legislation Wednesday. Jones is the former California secretary of state and was the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006. Jones and Schwarzenegger have endorsed each other's campaigns over the years, and Jones has given nearly $70,000 to Schwarzenegger's political committees, state records show. In August, the...

Pacific EthanolPacific Ethanol Madera LLC announced it will participate in the California Ethanol Producer Incentive Program (CEPIP), which will temporarily assist the plant financially. The CEPIP works essentially like a loan, where the state government will provide financial backing during difficult economic conditions and the participating companies will pay it back when it’s determined the economy has recovered. Pacific Ethanol Madera LLC is part of Pacific Ethanol Inc., which is the leading West Coast manufacturer of ethanol — a corn-based, low-carbon fuel. “The state of California continues to lead the nation in supporting the production of low-carbon fuels,” Pacific Ethanol...

SACRAMENTO - Pacific Ethanol was still a fledgling business in 2005 when its founder, former Secretary of State Bill Jones, persuaded state officials to give him the small but exclusive fuel deal that established his company as a player in California's burgeoning alternative fuel market. Two years later, that company is an ethanol empire. And Jones is the fuel's most influential champion in the state, using his political connections and 21 years of Sacramento experience to shape policies that are dramatically boosting California's thirst for ethanol - stemming the state's dependence on gasoline, but at a cost of millions in...

The Farce About Ethanol...By State Senator Tom McClintock In response to my blog, "Ethanol Economics," Former Secretary of State Bill Jones (now Chairman of Pacific Ethanol), made five key points in his piece, "The Facts About Ethanol."  Just for fun, let's run "The Facts About Ethanol" through the old fact-checker: "Today, ethanol is about 65 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline in the California market." That's only after taxpayers and consumers have kicked in a subsidy of $1.50 per gallon - or $7 billion a year paid into the pockets of ethanol producers to hide the staggering price of ethanol...

Some of the world's wealthiest are going green, spending their own greenbacks to protect the environment and fight global warming. In honor of the 37th annual Earth Day this Sunday, we are highlighting our picks for the 11 greenest billionaires. These moguls have made significant commitments to the environment, whether through investment in technology, commitment to earth-friendly living or simply by raising the world's environmental awareness. Among the green billionaires are high-profile folks like Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT) co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Gates' investment firm invested $84 million in California's Pacific Ethanol (nasdaq: PEIX), which makes ethanol from corn;...

Ethanol — once the enemy in the state’s war on air pollution — is today’s action hero in the state’s battle to keep gasoline cheap for California motorists. Faced with a tight oil supply and rising gasoline prices, the Schwarzenegger administration has surrendered and is no longer pressing the Environmental Protection Agency to waive a federal requirement to use the corn-based alcohol as a gasoline additive. Instead, the administration is embracing ethanol, according to observers, even though a state report shows that the federal rule requiring a minimum of 5.9 percent ethanol in California gasoline increases emissions. The California Air...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Former Secretary of State Bill Jones has been named chairman of the board of Pacific Ethanol, a company he founded in 2003, the company announced Thursday. Jones, a Republican, served as Pacific Ethanol's chairman until March 2004, when he stepped down to mount an unsuccessful challenge to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Jones lost the Senate race to Boxer by 20 percentage points. "I am grateful to be back as chairman of Pacific Ethanol," Jones said in a statement. "I believe that California is headed toward a transportation fuel supply crisis that could make the electricity crisis...

Why Barbara Boxer Would Crush Bill Jones When I first heard that Bill Jones was running with the endorsement of the CAGOP establishment, I had the same reaction as most of you probably did. I remembered his feckless support for McCain, his critical vote in raising taxes for Pete Wilson, that he is a farmer, pro-life, and seemingly a nice guy. That's it. It was enough to get me to support Kaloogian instead. Well, unfortunately, my common understandign was not the whole story. The tipping point came with Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement. It was curious that Arnold chose to support Bill...