DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today joined Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin, Congressmen Tom Latham, Steve King, Dave Loebsack and Bruce Braley, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey in sending a letter expressing strong opposition to the EPA’s proposal that would negatively lower levels in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to President Barack Obama, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and U.S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack. The Iowa elected leaders also urged the federal government to host a hearing in Iowa to hear directly from Iowans on the EPA’s proposal, which would have a harmful effect on the agriculture, agri-business and biofuels industries in Iowa.
The letter is found here: https://governor.iowa.gov/wp-
In the bipartisan letter, the leaders noted:
As elected officials from a leading agricultural and biofuels state, we write to express our strong opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to reduce renewable fuel volume obligations and weaken the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and we request further opportunities for citizens from rural America to inform your decisions. Biofuels have diversified America’s energy portfolio, strengthened our national security by reducing reliance on foreign oil, reduced transportation fuel emissions, given consumers lower cost options, and energized rural America by increasing family farm incomes and creating high-skilled, rewarding careers.
From the dishonest politician’ letter, “Iowa’s Ethanol renewable fuel given consumers lower cost options”, IS A FALSE STATEMENT.
Because higher ethanol fuel blends (like E15 and E85) have less energy content than regular gasoline, they deliver lower fuel economy and cost consumers more money at the pump.
Ethanol contains 33 percent less energy per gallon than gasoline, and vehicles fueled with ethanol cover fewer miles per gallon than those running on conventional gasoline. The higher the ethanol blend, the lower the fuel economy, meaning consumers must fill up at the pump more frequently.