Letter to Editor: Legislators, Please End Renewable Fuel Restrictions

by Bob Bowman (Clinton Herald) The ethanol industry is critical to the Midwest, supporting thousands of jobs and adding billions of dollars to our economy. It also drives corn demand at a time when Iowa farm family income is at the lowest level in over a decade. However, the sale of renewable fuels produced in the region are limited by outdated Environmental Protection Agency regulations that restrict which fuels can be offered during the busy summer driving season. How did we get here?

The most recent EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, failed to act and deliver some certainty and fair access for Midwest producers. Biofuel blends offer an affordable, cleaner alternative to traditional gasoline. E15, for example, is a fuel blend containing 15 percent ethanol that burns more efficiently and costs an average of five to 10 cents less per gallon than regular gasoline – which directly benefits consumers as well.

The new acting EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is in a great position to finally provide relief to the rural community and put an end to these pointless restrictions once and for all. READ MORE

Excerpt from Wallaces Farmer: The Trump administration has said it will approve year-round use of the 15% ethanol blend, but the promise has failed to materialize. For now, E15 is banned in summer by EPA based on concerns E15 contributes to smog, a claim ethanol industry advocates say is unfounded. Almost all gasoline sold in the U.S. today contains 10% ethanol, the E10 blend. Boosting ethanol use by allowing E15 to be sold 12 months a year would help improve corn prices.

Announcement at Farm Progress Show
“The Trump administration makes one promise after another when it comes to E15 with no results to show,” Gannon (Tim Gannon, a candidate for Iowa ag secretary) says. “Starting in 2016, President Trump promised Iowans time and time again he would expand markets for ethanol. What’s worse is that our state’s Republican leaders have been unable to get results for Iowa’s farmers. Gov. Reynolds raised this and other issues 11 months ago, and all we’ve gotten since then is more empty rhetoric. The president was in Iowa in July and promised ‘I’m getting very close to doing that,’ — having already made similar assurances earlier in the year.”

Gannon notes that “Just a few weeks ago, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue looked our farmers in the eyes at the Farm Progress Show at Boone and said: ‘We’ll have an announcement sooner rather than later.’”

Meanwhile, Iowa farmers are going bankrupt while petroleum profits are soaring, Gannon says.

Gannon adds, “The Trump administration appears to be playing politics with an issue that’s very important to farmers’ bottom lines. Corn and soybean prices are low due in part to the destroyed demand for ethanol and biodiesel caused by waivers EPA has granted to oil refiners already enjoying record profits.”

Some people think the Trump administration will make an announcement on E15 this fall before the election. “But the administration continues to seek more handouts for oil companies as part of the deal while steadfastly refusing to curtail illegal waivers and reallocate the billions of gallons of demand for biofuels that have been lost over the last two years,” Gannon says. “I have to wonder whether the White House is more worried about Big Oil than Iowa farmers.” READ MORE