President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will have an opportunity in coming weeks to increase manufacturing jobs and bolster U.S. exports by simply cutting back on the red tape of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Although every source of energy – wind, solar, renewable, carbon-based and the rest – has a place on the market, the RFS includes a government-imposed requirement mandating that a specified amount of renewable fuels are mixed into at least 15 billion gallons of America's diesel fuel and gasoline annually.
Refiners blend ethanol made from corn into fuel to meet this RFS requirement, and as a result farmers who grow corn and politicians from corn-growing state support the RFS. More corn is produced in Iowa than any other state.
No one said that draining the swamp would be easy. While lobbyists and officialsrepresenting corn states have been fighting President Trump’s EPA every step of the way, I am still hopeful that the White House will make the decision that benefits the economy at large.
To satisfy Washington bureaucrats, refineries and distributors must either produce the mix of fuel containing ethanol on their own; purchase credits – called Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) from someone who can blend it; or import renewables from overseas that qualify for RINs credits.
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Mandating ethanol in gasoline is one of the worst things the unaccountable EPA has ever done. Ethanol in fuel is not good for the environment, it's not good for your engine and fuel system, and it's not good for the economy.
ReplyDeleteCorn is for food not for fuel!
ReplyDeleteI get 20% better mileage from pure gasoline than I get with the 10% ethanol trash, so in effect, I am burning 10% more fossil fuel every mile I drive.
ReplyDeleteHow does that make any sense?