We Need More Homegrown Fuel, Not Less

by Emily Skor (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Ethanol is a homegrown biofuel that lowers prices at the pump. Pull into any fuel retailer in the U.S. and you'll find that the option with more ethanol has the lower price. Unfortunately, certain voices opposed to greater fuel choice ignore the benefits of ethanol and are using the blending targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard as a scapegoat for high fuel prices. Now they’re pushing the Trump Administration to take action on 2025 blending exemptions that would undermine these targets the president delivered for rural America for 2026 and 2027.Here’s the truth: the price of crude oil drives prices at the pump. Ethanol reduces our dependence on foreign oil and brings cost savings to American drivers. We need more homegrown biofuels, not less.

Many know that ethanol is already blended into more than 95% of fuel sold in the U.S. today as E10, which contains 10% ethanol. But not as many know that for the last two decades, ethanol blending in the U.S. has been buoyed by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a program that each year establishes renewable volume obligations (RVOs) that ensure homegrown biofuels are blended into our nation's fuel supply.

This policy supports American farmers who grow the crops that are turned into renewable fuels like ethanol, and it increases energy security by ensuring that a portion of the nation’s fuel supply chain starts and stops on American soil.

Last year, a broad coalition of farmer groups, biofuel producers, and petroleum companies came together to support strong blending targets for 2026 and 2027. In March, the Trump Administration delivered a victory to all Americans by setting the blending targets at historic levels to strengthen American energy security, lower fuel prices, and boost investment in America’s rural heartland.

Now, facing pressure to reduce gas prices, some groups are unfairly pointing fingers at biofuels and pressing EPA to exempt many petroleum refiners from the blending targets altogether. Such a move could not come at a worse time—farmers are still struggling, and undermining the RVOs would dampen one of the few economic bright spots they’ve seen this year.

Further, the gas pump doesn’t lie: drivers filling up with higher ethanol blends like E15 save $.30/gallon on average. In many parts of the country, they are saving even more—in recent months drivers in North Carolina and Pennsylvania saved $0.50/gallon and drivers in Illinois saved $1.20/gallon. Exempting petroleum refiners from the blending targets would threaten these savings and could drive prices even higher.

EPA clearly recognizes ethanol’s power to lower fuel prices. That’s why the agency just issued another emergency waiver allowing for the nationwide sale of E15 for the rest of the summer. Congress has the opportunity to supercharge these benefits by securing permanent year-round access for E15 and bringing savings to more Americans across the country. That way farmers, producers, and American families won’t have to rely on temporary emergency waivers to keep E15 on the market all year long. The House took the first step in May, and now the Senate must finish the job.

Whether it’s robust RVOs or year-round E15, we need strong federal biofuels policy to secure more homegrown biofuels in our nation’s fuel supply. Permanent year-round E15 and strong blending targets under the RFS raise income in rural communities, strengthen American energy security, and deliver lower prices at the pump at a time when Americans need it most. Any decision that undermines homegrown fuels would jeopardize those benefits, and that’s something American families and farmers can’t afford. READ MORE