Edwards Campaign Press Release - On Day Two Of "Barnstorm For Rural America," Edwards Outlines Plans To Strengthen Rural Communities

Discusses Specific Plans to Support Rural Firefighters and Create Jobs in the New Energy Economy

Rock Rapids, Iowa – Today, Senator John Edwards begins the second day of his two-day, nine-county "Barnstorm for Rural America" in Rock Rapids, Iowa, where he will discuss his plan to support rural firefighters. Edwards is traveling across Western Iowa to highlight the families and communities that are too often forgotten in Washington and to discuss his specific solutions to revitalize and restore hope to rural America. Former Congressman Ben "Cooter" Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on the successful television series The Dukes of Hazzard, is joining Edwards on the Barnstorm.

"For too long, Washington has forgotten about the needs of rural Americans," said Edwards. "Every four years, candidates come through Iowa saying that they'll help rural communities, only to go back to Washington and ignore them again. I will never turn my back on rural America. Growing up in a small town, I learned about family, community and hard work. These are values I carry with me today. As president, I will protect the rural way of life and strengthen rural communities, so we can keep these values alive in our country."

Edwards begins Day Two of the "Barnstorm for Rural America" by touring a rural fire house and discussing his plan to support rural firefighters. As president, Edwards will make sure that small-town and volunteer fire departments in Iowa get the funding and training they deserve. He strongly supports the Rural Fire Assistance program and supports more funding for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which helps fire departments hire personnel and retain volunteers. As president, he will streamline the process for awarding death benefits and will also protect firefighters from losing their jobs while responding to emergencies. Finally, he will protect the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which brings more than $250,000 a year to counties in Iowa.

Following his event in Rock Rapids, Edwards will travel to Sibley, Iowa, to hold a community meeting to discuss his plan to strengthen America's rural schools. Edwards will then travel to Estherville, Iowa, and visit Iowa Lakes Community College and hold a community meeting to discuss his plan to create jobs in the new energy economy. Iowa Lakes Community College's Biomass Energy Processing program trains students for jobs in the renewable energy industry.

In March, Edwards unveiled a plan to halt global warming and build a new energy economy that will create more than a million "green collar" jobs. Edwards will invest in renewable energies and accelerate the use of biofuels on America's roads and highways, creating thousands of jobs in Iowa. Additionally, Edwards' "Green Collar Jobs" training initiative will connect over 150,000 workers a year with skills certification and living wage jobs in the new energy economy. The Green Collar Jobs training initiative will partner with employers, unions, community colleges and high schools to prepare and engage the next generation of workers.

In the last stop of the "Barnstorm for Rural America," Edwards will visit the farm of Linus Solberg in Cylinder, Iowa and discuss his plan to protect family farms. Edwards believes we need to stand up to the big agricultural conglomerates and ensure fairness for family farmers.

For more information on Edwards' plans to support rural firefighters and create jobs in the new energy economy, please see the attached fact sheets. For more information on Edwards' full plan to restore hope to rural America, please visit www.JohnEdwards.com/Iowa/Issues.

Honoring Bravery and Ensuring Safety

John Edwards' Plan to Support Iowa's Rural Firefighters

"The spirit of public service is so important to America's small towns. When we honor the bravery of rural firefighters, we strengthen entire communities." - John Edwards

Because rural areas have limited tax bases and smaller, more dispersed populations, they often struggle to provide vital public safety services. Death rates from fires are 35 percent higher in rural areas than in the rest of the country. Rural fire departments are stretched thin, and most small towns rely entirely on volunteers. As president, John Edwards will help Iowa's rural firefighters by fighting for fair funding levels, ending the Justice Department backlog on death benefits and guaranteeing job protection for volunteers while they are responding to an emergency. Edwards believes that we must both strengthen support for professional firefighters and recognize the contributions of volunteer firefighters who put their lives on the line for little or no pay. [U.S. Fire Administration, 2006]

• Giving Back to Rural Firefighters: Edwards will ensure that small-town and volunteer fire departments in Iowa get the funding and training they deserve. He strongly supports the Rural Fire Assistance program that President Bush has tried to eliminate. The program will help rural districts buy equipment, train firefighters and prevent fires and requires local cost sharing.
• Expanding Federal Security Funding Programs: Edwards will also expand the homeland security programs that help meet the needs of Iowa's rural fire departments. He supports more funding for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which helps fire departments hire personnel and retain volunteers. He also supports the Assistance to Firefighters program, known as FIRE Grants, to support training, purchasing firefighting vehicles as well as communications and other equipment, health and safety programs and fire prevention and education programs
• Guaranteeing Protection on the Job: Since the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act was signed into law, strengthening the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, only two of the first forty claims have been approved. Two hundred families of fallen officers are still awaiting decisions. Edwards will streamline the process for awarding death benefits to fallen public safety officers, ending the Justice Department's backlog.
• Supporting Those Who Serve: Edwards will prevent the IRS from taxing the modest local benefits volunteers may receive for their service. He will also protect firefighters from losing their jobs while responding to emergencies, similar to the protection currently offered to National Guard members. [NVFC, 2007]
• Funding Rural America's Needs: The federal Payments in Lieu of Taxes program compensates areas for lost tax revenue from federally-protected land. Edwards will protect this important program - which brings over $250,000 a year to counties in Iowa - from cuts like those President Bush has proposed. [Washington Post, 4/6/2007; NACO, 2007]

Putting Iowa's Biofuels on America's Roads

"We can build a whole new energy economy that's centered right here in rural America. By harnessing American ingenuity, we can emerge from the crisis of global warming by stimulating innovation, bringing the family farm back to life and creating more than one million jobs." - John Edwards

While Washington is captive to special interests - the big oil and power companies - that have blocked real solutions to climate change, innovators in Iowa and across the country are leading the way toward the clean, renewable fuels of the future. We need energy independence from unstable and hostile areas of the world, from global warming pollution and from the old ways of doing business.

Ethanol made from corn starch today as well as cellulose tomorrow can reduce carbon pollution by 20 to 80 percent compared to gasoline, and biodiesels can bring reductions of up to 78 percent. Iowa is the national leader in ethanol production, with 13 existing biodiesel refineries and almost 50 more on the way. As president, John Edwards will accelerate the use of biofuels on America's roads and highways, cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce America's oil imports by at least 7.5 million barrels a day by 2025 and improve public health by:

• Boosting Biofuel Production: Edwards will invest in public-private research partnerships to maximize America's biofuel output while minimizing environmental damage, help develop new methods of producing and using corn and cellulosic ethanol including E30 and E20 ethanol, support loan guarantees to new refineries, provide job skills training to ensure local residents get jobs and make the renewable production tax credit permanent. [DOE / USDA, 2005]
• Building the Biofuels Infrastructure: Only about 900 of the country's 169,000 gas stations have pumps for the E85 blend of ethanol and gasoline. Edwards will require oil companies to install biofuel pumps at 25 percent of their gas stations and require all new cars sold after 2010 to be "flex fuel" cars running on either gasoline or biofuel. [NEVC, 2007; Driving RAND, 2006; DOE, 2005; USDA, 2005]
• Creating New Green Collar Jobs: Insufficient skills and training are major barriers to rapid adoption of renewable energy. Edwards' "Green Collar Jobs" training initiative will connect over 150,000 workers a year with skills certification and living wage jobs in the new energy economy. The Green Collar Jobs training initiative will partner with employers, unions, community colleges and high schools to prepare and engage the next generation of workers. [NREL, 2007]
• Making American Vehicles Virtually Petroleum-Free: With a strong ethanol industry that includes biofuels, fuel cells, and hybrid and electric technology, American cars and trucks can be virtually petroleum-free within a generation. Edwards will provide $1 billion a year to help U.S. automakers advance and apply the latest technology, including biofuels, hybrid and electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, ultra-light materials and drive train improvements. He will also help school districts replace conventional diesel with cleaner-burning biodiesel blends in 100,000 school buses nationwide.
• Promoting Clean Farms for Clean Fuels: Making Iowa's farms a central part of the solution to climate change will require a concerted effort to control greenhouse gas emissions and protect farmland as the nation ramps up production of homegrown biofuels. Edwards will make greenhouse gas reduction profitable for farms through a cap and trade system and incentives for trapping and converting methane emissions for electricity generation.