Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015 today that would eliminate the corn ethanol mandate for renewable fuels by amending the Clean Air Act. The three senators have had the bill ready to go this Congress as an amendment and submitted the amendment as part of the debate on the Keystone XL Pipeline, but withdrew the amendment before consideration.
The bill is referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which is chaired by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer (D-CA). No date for a hearing or mark has been announced.
The National Chicken Council, along with 34 other groups, representing livestock, food, engines, consumers, free-market, environmental, anti-hunger, energy, and restaurants, sent a letter to Senators Toomey and Feinstein yesterday applauding and supporting the introduction of the bill. “We all agree that the RFS is a fundamentally broken policy that disadvantages everyday Americans. After years of growing evidence that the RFS is failing to achieve its stated goals, and in many instances actually works against them, now is the time for the bipartisan reform your legislation embodies,” the letter said, which is available here.
