E15 Is Good For Iowa and America
 
Iowans are well aware of the benefits of ethanol, both to our state’s economy and the environment.  However, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to delay its decision on whether or not to allow E15, a blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline, to be a part of the nation’s fuel supplies.

This all got started more than 15 months ago when a group of domestic ethanol producers filed a waiver petition with the Environment Protection Agency to allow for E15 use.  In an effort to increase the use of homegrown, renewable fuels, as well as meeting the renewable fuel requirements set forth by Congress, ethanol must be allowed to be blended at levels higher than the current 10 percent limit.  The agency was required to act on this request from ethanol producers by December 2009, but announced that it was delaying the decision until the summer of 2010.

Unfortunately, it is now late June 2010, and there’s still no answer.  We’re being told that the decision has been put off until fall 2010.  Not only is this further delay unacceptable, it was accompanied by an unnecessarily complicated waiver procedure that staggers partial waivers for newer model vehicles.  Environmental Protection Agency officials have further stated that with this new timeline, E15 blends may not be available to consumers until February 2011.

I’m fighting this delay and all the harm it does to the rural economy, energy independence and the environment.  I’ve sent a letter, with three other Senators, to President Obama calling for swift action by the administration on this important issue. And, until E15 can be approved it only makes sense to allow for an immediate interim blend of E12.  President Obama has reiterated his support for homegrown biofuels, which makes it hard to understand how an administration that talks about the benefits of domestically produced, renewable fuels can allow such delay and inaction within one of its agencies.

America’s ethanol producers, many of whom raise their families and grow their crops in Iowa, estimate that approving E15 would create 136,000 U.S. jobs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels by seven billion gallons a year.  Taking quick action to allow higher ethanol blends will help meet the challenge of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, which would keep more U.S. dollars at home and increase national security.  There is no reason to delay the approval of E15.  It’s good for Iowa, and it’s good for America.

Click here to read the E15 letter sent to President Obama.