Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and eight cosponsors yesterday introduced the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2013. The bill eliminates the corn ethanol mandate within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires annual increases in the amount of renewable fuel that must be blended into the total volume of gasoline refined and consumed in the United States.
Cosponsors on the bill are Richard Burr (R-NC); Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Corker (R-TN), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Patrick Toomey (R-PA).
The National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation, with a coalition of poultry and livestock groups, announced their support for the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act. In a coalition letter urging each member of the U.S. Senate to commit support as cosponsors, the bipartisan legislation was hailed as a simple, effective solution to the problems caused by corn diverted to ethanol, driving up feed costs and consumer prices for meat.
“Congressional action to repeal the corn ethanol mandate remains the most viable pathway to allowing all users of corn to have equal standing in the marketplace, and we thank Senators Feinstein and Coburn and for leading this effort in the Senate,” said National Chicken Council President Mike Brown. “We know all too well from last year that corn crop projections and inventories can be erased from Mother Nature’s wrath. This important legislation will help us ensure this vital resource is appropriately allocated. It is clear that the momentum in Washington is shifting and our elected officials and regulators are realizing that the supplies for our feed, food and fuel must not be pitted against each other,” Brown said.
The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and revised in 2007, sets a target for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels blended into gasoline by 2022 with the corn ethanol mandate scheduled to reach 15 billion gallons by 2015. Each year, EPA issues RFS rules with increasing volumes of renewable fuel blending that also include cellulosic and advanced biofuels that do not compete as feed sources.
The Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act would maintain the cellulosic and advanced biofuel mandates, providing the incentive for the development of next generation biofuels that do not rely on food-based feedstock. The legislation would help the corn ethanol industry move to a sustainable business model while easing the pressure of the agricultural feed supply raising livestock and poultry for American families.
