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EPA refuses to relax ethanol rules despite drought
This year’s drought has seriously reduced corn yields but the EPA says “tough.” Requests for waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard have been turned down by the agency which says the EPA has “not found evidence to support a finding of severe ‘economic harm’ that would warrant granting a waiver” to states.
Opponents of the RFS say drought-driven spikes in cornĀ pricesĀ and reduced harvests should prompt the agency to relax the requirements, which require refiners to blend billions of gallons of ethanol into gasoline.Livestock, poultry and food industry groups dismayed at the amount of corn used for ethanol have joined states in calling for EPA to back off the ethanol mandate. EPA also faced congressional pressure to ease the requirements.
But EPA tossed aside their arguments.
“We recognize that this year’s drought has created hardship in some sectors of the economy, particularly for livestock producers,” said Gina McCarthy, EPA’s top air regulator, in a statement. “But our extensive analysis makes clear that Congressional requirements for a waiver have not been met and that waiving the RFS will have little, if any, impact,” she said.
The ethanol industry applauded EPA’s decision.



Mr.Gates
November 18th, 2012
The brain trust at the epa hasn’t figured it out yet? They should be banning the use of alcohol in gasoline. Growing crops to produce low energy (less efficient) fuel requires the burning of millions of gallons of diesel fuel. Duh.
Mr.Gates
November 18th, 2012
I once wrote to the epa because their method of calculating energy use of televisions in order to qualify them for energy star rating, was so stupid and unscientific it didn’t even take the hours of actual television operation into account. All they cared about was “phantom load”, which is insignificant at most. These are the brain dead commies running or country today.
Corn is food
November 18th, 2012
Not fuel.
Oil is fuel.
RightWinger
November 18th, 2012
EPA = Energy Production Abhorrence
HANOVERFIST
November 18th, 2012
Sounds like this could be a “Great leap forward”
It worked out so well in China that we should try
it here.
judgeroybean
November 18th, 2012
Another cash guzzling gummit agency that should be put out of business.
Unneutral
November 18th, 2012
EPA= Employment Prevention Agency.
Nutjob
November 18th, 2012
This is the goal of the EPA to eliminate independant farmers. The only ones they want standing are government supported andsubsidized democratic donating farms like ted turner.
If less feed is available they’ll be less of these polluters in their mind.
So they resort to using drones to see whose cows are possibly contaminating streams and rivers or those allowing cows to drink from creeks or streams.
Plus it’ll help with their goal of poulation control by getting excess food off of the market and starving people out to save mother earth.
Mike
November 18th, 2012
Well spotted, Nutjob. Congressional waiver requirement: being a democrat party donor. Only good thing is they haven’t mandated the compulsory purchase of ethanol fuel from the cronies yet, although that’s probably the next item on the Agenda.
persecutor
November 18th, 2012
The only thing those EPA asshats know how to do well is to give money to bankrupt cronies of Obozo.
Tony R
November 18th, 2012
Ethanol: A perfect example of how Democrats and corrupt Republicans conspired to screw the taxpayers by creating a new class of business addicted to subsidies.
sablegsd
November 18th, 2012
So what happens if the farmers just don’t
comply?
Major Mal function
November 18th, 2012
The farmers don’t have to comply, they benefit. It’s the gasoline “blenders”, i.e oil refiners, that are forced to use so much ethanol in their gasoline they make.
That’s sets up a guaranteed price-is-no-object market for the ethanol distillers who can then outbid the feed buyers for the corn supply. It’s the consumers who get shafted with higher food prices and poor fuel economy gasoline.