Opinion: Our Leaders Have Failed Us on Ethanol

by Doug Sombke (South Dakota Farmers Union/Agri-Pulse) Let me get this straight: The ethanol industry is seeking what is essentially a clerical clarification applying Reid Vapor Pressure relief to all blends, allowing refiners and retailers the option, at their choosing to use more ethanol. The oil industry, being the free-market folks that they are, oppose such choice.

The energy sector has used its hundreds of D.C. lobbyists and billions in profits to thwart ethanol at every turn, most recently getting 27 members of the House to write a letter to House leadership citing concerns that ethanol could "disadvantage the U.S. refining sector.” That comes on the heels of the American Petroleum Institute reneging on support for E15 and setting conditions for them to reconsider support. Those conditions, of course, would be to continue to gut the RFS.

Now overlay that with the small refinery exemptions that are releasing into the wild billions of RINs that will give these same oil industry-obligated parties access to cheap, plentiful RINs without even having to use ethanol. In the letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., they cite "compliance burdens," yet they are clearly behind the curtain at EPA making compliance even easier.

The oil industry continues to rewrite history and push the narrative that the Renewable Fuel Standard was only about energy security, ignoring the reality that it is an environmental program with roots all the way back to the Clean Air Act, when oxygenates, like ethanol, were required to get the cancer-causing, smog-forming, deadly compounds refiners use for octane out of our gasoline.

Those requirements remain on the books — gathering dust. The single highest value of ethanol is as clean octane to replace toxic carcinogenic aromatics. The legendary C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush, was a key architect of the Clean Air Act and was often asked why he supported ethanol. His answer was direct and clear, and I quote: "Because it saves lives!”

By not seizing this opportunity, our leaders in the ethanol industry, in our ag organizations, and in Congress have failed us. No one beyond a small group of us has even asked for these laws to protect our health to be enforced.

We beg with hat in hand to be "allowed" to add more than 10% ethanol while the oil industry poisons that same gasoline with 25% or more toxics, contributing to everything from respiratory diseases to neurological ailments.

We stand by when gas pumps are required to label 10% ethanol when ethanol supporters should have launched a campaign years ago to label every gas pump in America warning consumers the gas they are pumping contains known and suspected carcinogens.

Are they afraid of the oil industry they sell to — the same oil industry that as just described is slowly ensuring ethanol remains a bit player in the fuel mix? If the squeaky wheel gets the grease, then silence grinds that wheel to a halt. And that's where we are today.

And how in the world are our leaders in ethanol and corn supporting Reid Vapor Pressure legislation that caps blends at 15% when previous bills included all blends? Was there a backroom deal struck that the oil industry would give its blessing to E15 if the ethanol industry would not go after these toxics? How is that deal looking now?

And finally, spare us any talk that President Donald Trump loves farmers and supports ethanol. If that were true, E15 would have been in the One Big Beautiful Bill. One phone call from him and it would be done. How naïve are we to not question how we have a Republican majority in the Senate and the majority leader is from one of the top three ethanol-producing states, yet we can’t include the E15 provision that had absolutely no cost to it?

We are on our own if we want to save our farmers and have any hope of growing the ethanol industry. While exports have been a welcome addition to the portfolio, enforcing toxic controls with an E30 program here at home would double corn demand and bring aromatics down to minuscule levels, which the Clean Air Act teed up for us more than 35 years ago.

The answer is simple: Ethanol producers and corn growers need to sue EPA to enforce the law.

The South Dakota Farmers Union represents family farmers, and even with our modest resources have waged this battle for years. We have enough data and supporting documentation that the work is done. We have never had the support of the national organizations that have the multimillion-dollar budgets and could easily take this on. We challenge them to join us and take up this fight.