Members of Congress Ask EPA to Protect Renewable Fuels Standard (6-9-08)

A bipartisan group of 32 lawmakers led by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) have asked the EPA to preserve the renewable fuels standard (RFS) enacted in last year’s Energy Bill by refusing to grant any requests to waive or halt the RFS.

The letter was applauded by the National Corn Growers Association, which asked its members to contact their lawmakers to sign on.

“The National Corn Growers Association strongly opposes any effort to halt or waive the renewable fuels standard as it is unlikely to lower grain or food prices,” said NCGA President Ron Litterer. “Waiving the RFS would likely result in higher—not lower— fuel prices for the nation’s drivers.”

Joining Herseth Sandlin and Shimkus on the letter were Rep. Delahunt (D-Mass.), Rep. Loebsack (D-Iowa), Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), Rep. Braley (D-Iowa), Rep. Hare (D-Iowa), Rep. Costello (D-Ill.), Rep. Boswell (D-Iowa), Rep. Weller (R-Ill.), Rep. Hulshof (R-Mo.), Rep. Graves (R-Mo.), Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.), Rep. Latham (R-Iowa), Rep. Boyda (D-Kan.), Rep. Mahoney (D-Fla.), Rep. Pomeroy (D-N.D.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Rep. Cohen (D-Tenn.), Rep. Kagen (D-Wisc.), Rep. Walz (D-Minn.), Rep. LaHood (R-Ill.), Rep. Donnelly (D-Ind.), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Rep. Perlmutter (D-Colo.), Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) , Rep. Ellsworth (D-Ind.), Rep. Salazar (D-Colo.), Rep. Emerson (R-Mo.), Manzullo (R-Ill.), Souder (R-Ind.), Rep. Baldwin (D-Wisc.).

According to the lawmakers, a proposed 50 percent waiver in the RFS would remove 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol from the market and increase gasoline prices up to one year by up to 31 percent. With Americans already suffering record gas prices at the pump, pushing the price up further makes no sense at all in the short-term.

“Now is not the time to doubt or decrease our commitment to renewable fuels. Just the opposite is true – we need to let this law work, and build a bridge to advanced biofuels that will change this country’s energy economy and energy security,” said Herseth Sandin. “An appropriately aggressive RFS will ensure that biofuels continue to play an important role in diversifying our nation’s energy portfolio and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Click here for the text of the letter.