Feinstein, Toomey, Menendez, Collins Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Repeal Ethanol Mandate

July 21, 2021

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(Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today introduced the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act, a bill to end the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The mandate requires annual increases in the amount of renewable fuel that must be blended into the total volume of gasoline refined and consumed in the United States.

The bill would help reduce carbon emissions from transportation fuels by removing the volume requirements for corn ethanol while leaving in place the volume obligations for advanced and cellulosic biofuels and biodiesel.

“The federal corn ethanol mandate no longer makes sense when better, lower-carbon alternatives exist,” said Senator Feinstein. “Corn ethanol achieves little to no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s time to end the mandate and instead support more advanced biofuels and biodiesel that won’t contribute to climate change or drive up the cost of food.”

“The federal government forcing Americans to buy billions of gallons of corn ethanol is terrible policy on many levels,” said Senator Toomey. “For starters, it imposes financial harm on consumers and refineries, risking thousands of good-paying jobs. Further, the RFS drives up the cost of gas and food, harms our environment, and damages engines. I hope my colleagues will join us in our bipartisan effort to end this backwards policy.”

“The corn ethanol mandate has failed to live up to its emissions reduction promises, while contributing to higher food prices, causing issues for motorists, and leading to other environmental damages,” said Senator Menendez. “It’s time that we move on from this misguided policy and shift our focus to real solutions that truly address climate change and reduce other harmful emissions.”

“Corn ethanol blended gasoline poses significant economic and safety risks by damaging or destroying engines of older cars, boats, and snowmobiles; causing food and feed prices to rise; and presenting significant environmental concerns,” said Senator Collins. “Our bipartisan legislation would eliminate the corn ethanol mandate for renewable fuel, encouraging the development of alternative advanced biofuels to meet our energy and environmental challenges.”

Background:

The Renewable Fuel Standard requires gasoline and diesel producers to blend increasing volumes of renewable biofuels in their supply. Next year, the law will require 36 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended which could result in the emission of 7,600 tons of nitrogen oxides and 19,000 tons of volatile organic compounds, key drivers of climate change.

There are three main problems with continuing to mandate the consumption of corn ethanol each year:

Increased food and feed prices: Approximately 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is now used to produce ethanol, artificially inflating food and feed prices. Ethanol production requires 38 million acres of land – an area larger than the state of Illinois – that could be used to feed 150 million people.
Corn vs. advanced biofuels: In 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act to substantially increase production of cellulosic and advanced biofuels, which have lower greenhouse gas emissions than corn ethanol, to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Instead, corn grain remains the most dominant feedstock used for biofuel production.
Poor environmental performance: Corn ethanol achieves little to no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over regular oil and poses other environmental risks, including deforestation, habitat destruction and diminished water quality or availability due to cropland expansion. READ MORE

Biden Admin to Delay Late RFS Proposals -- RFS Delay Comes With Biofuels Industry Licking Wounds on Court Losses (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Bipartisan U.S. bill aims to eliminate corn ethanol volume mandate (Reuters)

Bill aims to make corn ethanol ineligible for meeting RFS RVOs (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

NCGA Expresses Opposition to Anti-Ethanol Legislation (Wisconsin Ag Connection)

Menendez seeks to stop corn ethanol mandate (New Jersey Globe)

Anti-ethanol legislation receives push back from ag industry (Ag Daily)

NEW NCGA CAMPAIGN PROMOTES ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF ETHANOL IN WASHINGTON D.C (National Corn Growers Association)

NCGA president strongly opposes proposed anti-ethanol legislation (KIWA Radio)

Setting the Record Straight on Renewable Fuels (Office of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-I))

RENNA/GARRATY: President Biden must reform RFS to protect local jobs (Burlington County Times)

Grassley says new anti-ethanol legislation has “no chance of passing” (KIWA Radio)

Another View: Don’t forget biofuels in climate fight -- Planners are not giving enough attention to lower carbon alternatives that are available today. (Central Maine Telegraph)

Politicians call for an end to mandatory ethanol in gas -- Senators from both parties in the United States are promoting an end to mandatory ethanol inclusion in gasoline. (Stratford Beacon Herald)

Soaring prices fuel long-running push by Pa. officials to roll back ethanol mandate (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Excerpt from Reuters: Ethanol's effect on carbon dioxide emissions depends on how it is made and whether indirect impacts on land use are calculated, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Advanced Biofuels Business Council spoke out against the bill on Tuesday.

"This proposal does nothing for advanced biofuels and we do not appreciate being used to greenwash a top priority for a handful of the dirtiest oil refineries in the country," said Brooke Coleman, the council's executive director. READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: "Homegrown biofuels, especially higher-octane blends like E15, offer readily available emissions reductions that are mistakenly being overlooked in the current energy debate," Thune (Senator John Thune (R-SD)) said when the low-carbon bills were introduced. "Biofuels not only support a critical market for our farmers and deepen American energy security, but they offer a lower-carbon fuel for domestic use and export without the unresolved costs, labor issues, and resource constraints of the all-in push for vehicle electrification." READ MORE

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: The newly introduced legislation would keep the statutory volume requirements for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel and biomass-based diesel in place, while eliminating the volume requirement for other biofuels that don’t meet the definition of cellulosic, advanced or biomass-based diesel fuels. For 2022, the statutory requirement would be set at 21 billion gallons, including 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel and at least 1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel. The balance of the blend obligation could be met with advanced biofuel. As a result, corn ethanol would no longer qualify for compliance with RFS blending requirements.

Additional information, including as full copy of the bill, is available on Toomey’s (Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) website. READ MORE

Excerpt from AgDaily: The National Corn Growers Association President John Linder said, “This bill is ill conceived and would have a devastating impact on air quality, the diversity of our energy supply, fuel prices and rural economies. Blending ethanol into the fuel supply is one of the most effective ways to lower carbon emissions to combat climate change and replace the most toxic components of gasoline.”

Today’s corn growers sustainably produce more corn on less land with fewer resources than when the RFS was enacted and are committed to further improvements in sustainability. These extraordinary results have been accomplished as food price inflation has decreased as ethanol production has grown.

“The RFS has been an incredibly successful policy, thanks to the innovation and contributions of corn farmers,” said Linder. “If you want to understand today’s sustainable corn and ethanol production, you can always ask a farmer for the facts. If Members of Congress want to reduce use of the low carbon renewable fuels that have enabled successful environmental policies, this bill would certainly do it.”

NCGA pointed to today’s corn and ethanol production facts in support of the mandate:

Corn production has doubled while primary nutrients per bushel have been cut in half. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, planted corn acres in 2021 were less than planted acres in 2007, the year the RFS was expanded. Corn production has increased because crop yields have increased from an average of 150 bushels per acre in 2007 to 172 bushels in 2020 (average production in 1980 was only 91 bushels per acre).
Through advances in science, technology and precision equipment, growers are focused more than ever on improving resiliency and efficiency. Building on past achievements, U.S. corn growers are committed to further sustainability achievements by 2030.
The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory GREET model shows ethanol’s carbon intensity is 44 percent to 52 percent lower than gasoline’s carbon intensity, and Argonne has found that the carbon intensity of corn-based ethanol has declined 23 percent since 2005.
Ethanol displaces the most harmful compounds in gasoline that cause respiratory and cardiovascular harm, according to the American Lung Association. According to EPA data, as ethanol blending increased from one percent to at least 10 percent, aromatics’ share of gasoline volume dropped from nearly 25 percent to 19.3 percent. READ MORE