D.C. Developments

Earlier this year, ACE mobilized 60 grassroots leaders, including ethanol producers, corn growers and retailers, for our fly-in and government affairs summit in Washington, D.C. It was timely not only to see cherry blossoms, but also to advocate for our priorities.

Over the course of a day and a half, our members met with nearly 100 congressional offices, in addition to top officials with EPA and USDA.

Market access for E15 this summer was not certain at the time of our fly-in, so we implored EPA to take the same emergency steps utilized in 2022 to ensure E15 availability in all parts of the country in 2023. We explained the “extreme and unusual” conditions used by President Biden to justify E15 year-round last year persisted. Thankfully, our effort paid dividends in April when EPA agreed to issue emergency authority for E15 this summer.

Knowing we cannot continually depend upon emergency steps, our members also pressed Congress to support the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S. 785 and H.R. 1608), which would allow all blends above E10 to be used nationwide on a permanent basis. Senators Fischer (R-Neb.) and Klobuchar (D-Minn.), along with Representatives Smith (R-Neb.) and Craig (D-Minn.) are leading this legislation, which is supported by the American Petroleum Institute among many others.

During our fly-in, ACE members also proactively urged Congress and USDA to ensure any new carbon or climate policy rewards farmers and ethanol producers for being part of the solution through carbon credits for climate-smart agriculture and ethanol production technology innovations. USDA specifically thanked ACE for helping lead the effort to ensure farmers and ethanol producers get credit for these activities.

ACE also pushed Congress to support The Next Generation Fuels Act (S. 944 and H.R. 2434) which would overcome barriers standing in the way to higher ethanol blends, establish a new fuel octane standard and ensure vehicles are compatible with higher blends and octane fuels. This legislation is being led by Senators Grassley (R-Iowa) and Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Congresswomen Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Craig (D-Minn.), and it is particularly important given EPA’s recent proposal to arbitrarily require a dramatic increase in the production of electric vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032.

We share EPA’s desire to reduce GHG emissions from vehicles but believe there is a better way than arbitrarily regulating a solution with considerable unknowns.

For example, since 99 percent of U.S. vehicles have internal combustion engines, EPA should give much more consideration to replacing the fossil fuel powering them with a lower-carbon and higher-octane alternative such as ethanol. The Next Generation Fuels Act, if adopted, would enable ethanol to compete in the market with other means to achieve emissions and efficiency goals.

ACE is also reminding EPA that scientists believe agriculture is critical to reduce GHG emissions. The best way to unlock decarbonization opportunities from climate-smart agriculture is through clean fuel policy, which stands up markets to help offset farmer cost of adoption. Unfortunately, the California LCFS does not yet allow carbon credits for biofuels produced from climate-smart agriculture, and since EPA’s tailpipe emissions proposal puts all our eggs in the EV basket, it fails to unlock the significant carbon mitigation potential from agricultural lands and ethanol.

We can and should do better.

EPA should reconsider its proposal, develop a technology-neutral approach to decarbonizing transportation fuel based on the Next Generation Fuels Act, and engage with ACE as we implement our project to ensure fair and accurate accounting for GHG reductions from climate-smart agriculture and ethanol.