Homegrown American Ethanol Promotes Economic and Energy Security
American fuel retailers, corn growers, ethanol producers, and our families face unnecessary uncertainty year after year awaiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s arbitrary, last-minute waivers to allow for the summertime sale of E-15 at gas stations nationwide. This unpredictability raises gas prices for American families, prevents fuel retailers from consistently marketing low-cost, low-carbon E-15, and threatens the livelihoods of corn growers and ethanol producers not only in Iowa, but across the Midwest. As is the case with many challenges facing our nation, it is incumbent upon Congress to end this waiver confusion and finally make E-15 available at the gas pump 365 days a year – permanently. This permanency would grant our families, businesses, and consumers more choices at the pump, and fortunately, we have the exact policies in our legislative pipeline to achieve this goal and support homegrown American ethanol production.
Alongside my Midwestern colleagues, I proudly helped reintroduce – for the third time since being elected to Congress – the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2023. This legislationends the need for irregular EPA fuel waivers and ensures that every family can permanently benefit – uninterrupted – from low-cost E-15. Facing higher prices for everyday household goods, our families should have the option to fill up their tanks with affordable E-15 no matter the time of year.
As I travel across Iowa’s 4th Congressional District on my biannual 36 County Tour, making E-15 available year-round at the pump permanently is the top priority for our ethanol and corn industries. This policy is not only vital to our families and ethanol producers, but also paramount to the success of our main street businesses and farm economy, because when our farmers and biofuels producers are successful, our economy is successful.
In the same legislative vein, I am also working with my colleagues to pass the Next Generation Fuels Act, which is another tool we can deploy to expand ethanol production, support American corn growers, and deliver relief at the pump for our families. As opposed to standard gasoline, ethanol enjoys a higher-octane rating – and this bill would promote increased ethanol blends in our nation’s fuel supply; in turn, lowering gas prices for consumers.
As a matter of policy, this legislative framework would phase in higher gasoline octane levels through the greater use of ethanol, laying the foundation for E-25 blends for model year 2028 and E-30 blends for model year 2033 and beyond. By increasing ethanol blending requirements in our nation’s fuel supply, American families will enjoy lower costs, our farmers will benefit from higher yields, our biofuels producers will restore American energy independence, and our fuel retailers will secure consistency and certainty.
Sound energy policy is critical to our national and economic security. Born and raised in rural Iowa, I have seen firsthand how ethanol – and its blended forms – have the unlimited potential to lower gas prices for our families, end our reliance on foreign oil, promote American energy dominance, and support our farm economy. On both the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, I will continue to be a strong voice and unwavering advocate for American ethanol, E-15 permanency, and the farmers and biofuels producers who power our economy and main streets.
This op-ed was originally published in the Ethanol Producer Magazine on June 14, 2023.