Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Ethanol mandate under attack by politicians

The federal regulations that force gasoline to contain 10 per cent ethanol is under legislative attack in Washington.

Four politicians have entered a bill in Congress, calling for an end to the ethanol mandate. They have already received public backing from organizations representing chicken and turkey producers.

The National Chicken Council (NCC) and National Turkey Federation are supporting legislation introduced today Bob Goodlattek, a Republican from Virginia, Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas, and Jim Costa, a Democrat from California.

 “It may lead to the elimination of the corn-based ethanol mandate and repeal requirements to blend 15-percent ethanol into the national fuel supply,” reports Meatingplace Magazine.

“Since the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard) was enacted, chicken producers alone have incurred almost $50 billion in cumulative additional feed costs,” said National Chicken Council president Mike Brown.


“The problem with the RFS is that it mandates the use of corn for ethanol, regardless of what makes economic sense, regardless of who is hurt and regardless of what it costs,” he added.