Federal, state legislation aims to curb ethanol use in gasoline

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Federal, state legislation aims to curb ethanol use in gasoline

Daniel Strohl Mar 5th, 2015 at 8am

Unable to get their anti-corn ethanol legislation included as a rider on an unrelated bill earlier this year, two U.S. senators have now re-introduced it as a standalone bill aimed at rolling back portions of the Renewable Fuel Standard, joining at least four other pieces of legislation on the federal and state levels aimed at reducing the amount of corn-based ethanol in modern fuel blends.

Retaining the same name and much of the same wording as the earlier piece of legislation – the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015, which failed to make its way into the Keystone XL Pipeline Act – senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania introduced the bill (S.577) last week, calling for a modification of the Renewable Fuel Standard to promote other biofuels, including biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol, over corn-based ethanol.

“Our infrastructure has a ceiling for the amount of corn ethanol that can be used, and we’re rapidly approaching it,” Feinstein wrote in a press release announcing the legislation. “Companies are physically unable to blend more corn ethanol into gasoline without causing problems for many gas stations and older automobiles.”

Opponents of the legislation, including the Renewable Fuel Association, the National Corn Growers Association, and the Advanced Ethanol Council, have characterized it as “an attack on the Renewable Fuel Standard” and have called for the EPA to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline despite the EPA’s acknowledgement of the ethanol blend wall.

[Optical.Catalyst]

1. Finally, someone is putting an end to burning food as fuel

Ethanol in gasoline was a product of big agricultural interests influencing Congress to sell more corn. Farmers in the Midwest are happy to sell more corn; meanwhile everyone else in the country is paying more for the products that use corn. Congress needs to pass legislation to protect the environment, not benefit a small group financially.