Greenfield: Wheeler Must Step Down Immediately

June 23, 2020

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by Paul Deaton (Blog for Iowa) At a June 22 press conference U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield said since Joni Ernst hasn’t called for the resignation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler over 52 new Renewable Fuel Standard waivers she will. And she did.

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Today, businesswoman and U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield joined rural advocates to hold Senator Joni Ernst accountable for her disastrous record of failing to protect Iowa’s farm economy and biofuels industry after accepting more than $420,000 from Big Oil.

On a virtual press conference call with Focus on Rural America co-founder and former Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge, fifth-generation Iowa farmer and former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Tim Gannon, and Iowa press, Theresa spotlighted Senator Ernst’s vote to confirm fossil fuel lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — despite his “explicit promises” to continue granting renewable fuel standard waivers to oil refiners at the expense of Iowa farmers and biofuel producers.

Here’s what Theresa is calling for today, in response to reports that the EPA is considering as many as 52 new RFS waivers dating all the way back to 2011:

1. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler must step down immediately.
2. EPA needs to release a full accounting of the RFS waivers currently under consideration.
3. The U.S. Senate must take immediate action to pass more direct relief for Iowa’s biofuel industry.

“Senator Ernst said she’d be different. She said she’d make ‘em squeal,” said Greenfield. “But after nearly a full term in the Senate, hardworking Iowans are the only ones squealing and our ethanol and corn producers are under attack. Today, I’m calling for Administrator Wheeler to step down immediately, and for Senator Ernst to stand up to her Big Oil donors and join me in calling for his resignation. Iowa’s farm communities and biofuel producers deserve answers for why Senator Ernst voted for a fossil fuel lobbyist to run the EPA in the first place. We’re going to keep holding her accountable from now through November.”

Previously, Senator Ernst has attempted to rewrite her record of support for Wheeler by suggesting that she would call for his firing if he failed to protect Iowa’s farmers and biofuels producers. But as the industry faces unprecedented hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, haphazard trade policies, and the last 85 RFS waivers the EPA granted to oil refiners, Senator Ernst has failed to make good on that threat.

In addition to voting for Wheeler’s confirmation and accepting more than $420,000 from Big Oil, Senator Ernst has taken more than $1.9 million from corporate PACs. Theresa Greenfield is not accepting one dime of corporate PAC money, and is running to put Iowa first. READ MORE

Challenge accepted, but no details yet for Ernst-Greenfield debates (The Gazette)

BIOFUELS ENTER IOWA SENATE RACE: (Politico's Morning Energy)

SENATE CANDIDATE CALLS ON EPA’S WHEELER TO RESIGN (NewsDakota)

Is Trump's fealty to Big Oil endangering Republicans' grip on the Senate? (The Hill)

Joni Ernst, Theresa Greenfield jockey for position as ethanol champions as election heats up (Des Moines Register)

Ethanol boosters want Ernst to demand Wheeler quit (E&E News)

Sen. Joni Ernst and Theresa Greenfield challenge each other on ethanol policy (CBS2Iowa)

IA-Sen: Ernst Still Not Calling For Wheeler’s Resignation (Iowa Starting Line)

Iowa Democrat unveils ad attacking Ernst on biofuels (E&E News)

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: BIOFUELS ENTER IOWA SENATE RACE: Republican Sen. Joni Ernst's Democratic challenger is hammering her in tweets and a new radio spot for her votes to confirm EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who she says has undermined the federal biofuels program by issuing dozens of exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard, Pro's Eric Wolff reports.

Businesswoman Theresa Greenfield, the Democrat trying to unseat Ernst, launched the radio ad Wednesday as part of a statewide buy slamming Ernst for backing Wheeler, who she referred to as a "fossil fuel lobbyist" because of his past work. The attacks followed tweets in which she called for Wheeler to resign and asked Ernst to join her demand.

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The tweets and radio spot represent a significant increase in Greenfield's messaging on the biofuels program. "When we go around and talk to farmers, people bring up ethanol and they're hurting and they're upset," Sam Newton, a Greenfield campaign spokesperson, told POLITICO.

While Ernst did vote to confirm Wheeler twice, she has a long record of vocally advocating for the RFS, including holding up the confirmation of former EPA assistant administrator Bill Wehrum over what she viewed as the agency's weak support for biofuels. READ MORE

Excerpt from News Dakota:Last year, Ernst did suggest she would call for Wheeler’s resignation if his biofuels promises are not fulfilled. Last week, Ernst co-sponsored a bill that would “approve certain advanced biofuel registrations that have languished before the EPA.”

Recent polling by the Des Moines Register found 46 percent of likely Iowa voters say they would back Greenfield if the election were held today, and 43 percent say they would support Ernst. Iowa is the top state for biofuels production, with 43 ethanol plants capable of producing over 4.5 billion gallons annually, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. READ MORE

Excerpt from The Hill: When Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) cruised to a nearly 10 point win in her first election in 2014, it was no surprise to the Des Moines Register, the gold standard for Iowa polling, which had her leading strongly going into that election.

So she has to take it quite seriously that the same poll now shows her trailing a newcomer Democratic opponent by 3 points. Perhaps more importantly, her approval rating has been on a steady decline for a year now, with some polling showing her underwater with as much as a -7 net approval rating. So, what’s going on?

Certainly part of the issue is drag from the top of the ticket, as Iowans have soured on President Trump and with a majority saying the country is on the wrong track, a trend that tracks with Ernst’s declining approval ratings — an effect the senator has exacerbated with her extraordinary efforts to defend the president.

Meanwhile, on the policy front, despite Trump’s very specific promises to Midwestern farmers during the campaign that helped turn traditionally purple Iowa blood red, the economic pain in farm country has only increased due to his ill-conceived trade wars and weakened biofuels policy.

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Sen. Ernst’s efforts to have it both ways by touting the president’s support for farmers while lamenting his EPA’s coziness with the oil industry will continue to ring hollow.

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Meanwhile, the EPA's actions have given Democrats the initiative to help biofuels producers, by including in the Democrats’ Heroes Act COVID-19 relief provision giving temporary support for biofuels producers during this crisis. Having this longed-for relief sitting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) desk with little prospect for Senate action only highlights further Sen. Ernst’s inability to focus her party on the real pain being experienced in her state. Ernst publicly touts her efforts to “push” the administration and her own Senate caucus to fix the problem. But if Trump’s oil-friendly EPA doesn’t fix the issue, and if McConnell doesn’t take up the biofuels package passed by the House, she will be left running on more empty words when her constituents need action. Her reelection, and perhaps Republican control of the Senate, may very well hang on whether or not EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler sides with Ernst or the oil industry.

Of course, Iowa is about more than corn and biofuels. It’s also increasingly a power in wind energy — but Trump has been no friend to this industry either. READ MORE