Renewable Fuels Offer Simultaneous Economic, Environmental and National Security Benefits

by Reid Detchon and Bart Ruth (United Nations Foundation and Solutions from the Land, respectively) Why are drivers in Watertown, S.D., paying 60 cents a gallon less to fill up their gas tanks than we are? Because 30 percent of their fuel is ethanol.

When Russian President sent tanks into Ukraine, President acknowledged that U.S. drivers were going to feel pain at the pump, given Russia’s role as one of the world’s biggest oil producers. But his steps so far to reduce that pain, including a temporary waiver to allow higher blends of lower-cost ethanol fuel blends, have not gone far enough.

So, what else can be done to reduce the shock of $5 gasoline? As a first step, President Biden could direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enable the use of higher levels of renewable fuel, replacing a larger share of petroleum gasoline with high-octane, low-carbon, cleaner and lower-cost fuel such as E25 (25 percent ethanol per gallon). Encouraging the use of American-made ethanol in mid-level blends offers an immediate solution that delivers simultaneous economic, environmental and national security benefits. Congress could also help by passing the Next Generation Fuels Act, H.R. 5089, a bipartisan bill that would improve transportation fuel quality and incentivize vehicle technologies that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase fuel economy.