Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate Hopefuls Differ on Foreign Policy, Ethanol

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May 9, 2022

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by Erin Murphy (Sioux City Journal) …Differences over a hard line on when to send U.S. troops to Ukraine and over ethanol policy were among the few contrasts to emerge during a televised debate Saturday night between the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Iowa.

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The candidates also had varied viewpoints on ethanol policy. The renewable fuels industry supports roughly 37,000 jobs in Iowa and accounts for nearly $4 billion of the state’s GDP, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Finkenauer (Abby Finkenauer, a former congresswoman and state legislator from Cedar Rapids) said she supports President Joe Biden’s use of an emergency rule to lift the federal ban on the higher E15 blend of ethanol being sold during the summer driving months. She also said the federal government must ensure oil companies are complying with federal ethanol blending regulations.

“This is the time when we should be using what Iowa does best, and we should be making sure that we are supporting that industry,” Finkenauer said. “But (also) make sure that these big oil companies aren’t just skirting the rules.”

Franken (Mike Franken, a retired three-star admiral in the U.S. Navy from Sioux City) said he also supports the year-round sale of E15, but said that should be considered a temporary solution. He said the government should be looking for alternative uses for ethanol, such as in airplane or ship fuel, or for power generation.

“We’ve got the latitude and the topsoil and the initiative and the intelligence in this state to reconstruct the energy grid,” Franken said. “And ethanol will be on the helpful side.”

Hurst (Glenn Hurst, a physician from Minden) said the government should move away from financing ethanol production because more new vehicles will be powered by electricity. He said the government should encourage Iowa farmers to produce another crop, and as an example cited hemp and its oils and fibers.

“Vehicles are going to be (electric-powered), and we can as a state either try to squeeze every little last drop out of ethanol as we can, or we can take a progressive idea of introducing a third crop into our duopoly of corn and soy and make it a profitable center, a profitable market for Iowa farmers,” Hurst said. READ MORE

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