Alcohol fuels produced from biomass can improve air quality, enhance energy security, create employment opportunities, and reduce waste disposal problems. Opportunities in California exist to produce alcohols from waste streams from various sectors of the economy. Government agencies have promoted waste-to-alcohol activities, but efforts have been inconsistent and intermittent. Often these efforts have been hindered by contradictory but mandate-driven policies.A prudent approach to coordinate statewide efforts includes the development of an integrated statewide policy to examine barriers that impede private sector business efforts to produce alcohols from biomass. A multiagency task force to promote research, development, commercialization, and marketing efforts for biomass-produced alcohols is desirable.