The House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week released a whitepaper on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its effects on United States agriculture production. This paper is the second in a series of whitepapers that the committee is issuing in an attempt to study the RFS, its effectiveness in meeting its goals, and the unintended consequences it has had and is having on other industries. The full whitepaper is available here for your reference.
The RFS Agriculture Sector whitepaper poses the following questions on which stakeholders may comment:
1. What has been the impact of the RFS on corn prices in recent years? What has been the impact on soybean prices? Have other agricultural commodity prices also been affected?
2. How much has the RFS increased agricultural output? How many jobs has it created? Have any jobs been lost? What is the net impact on the agriculture sector?
3. Was the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) correct to deny the 2012 waiver request? Are there any lessons that can be drawn from the waiver denial?
4. Does the Clean Air Act provide EPA sufficient flexibility to adequately address any effects that the RFS may have on corn price spikes?
5. What has been the impact, if any, of the RFS on food prices?
6. What role could cellulosic biofuels play in mitigating the potential effects of the RFS on corn prices?
7. What impact are cellulosic biofuels expected to have on rural economies as the production of such fuels ramps up?
8. Will the cellulosic biofuels provisions succeed in diversifying the RFS?
9. What is the scale of the impact of the RFS on international agricultural production and global land use changes?
The deadline for submission is April 29, 2013 by close of business. The National Chicken Council will be submitting comments on behalf of the industry. Should you choose to submit your own comments, submissions can be sent to [email protected], or you can contact NCC to ensure your comments will be submitted to the committee.
