Posted on: November 02, 2012 in Renewable Fuel Standard

To the Editor:

The editorial “The Ethanol Election Delay” (October 29) faults the Environmental Protection Administration for not rushing to judgment on suspending the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which calls for blending clean-burning biofuels into the nation’s motor fuels.

While the editorial singles out President Obama, Governor Romney also supports domestic renewable fuels and the RFS, as did former President George W. Bush. As both presidential candidates understand, American ethanol is not to blame for rising fuel prices and world hunger.

US ethanol production accounts for only 3 percent of the world’s corn supply, using field corn rather than the sweet corn consumed by humans. Only one part of the kernel – the starch – is used for ethanol production, and the rest produces at least 33 million tons of livestock feed for cattle, hogs and poultry every year.

In Africa and Asia, wheat and rice are much more important than corn. According to the United Nations World Food Program, the leading causes of world hunger are natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and long periods of drought, as well as war and poverty. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 48 to 59 percent compared to gasoline, biofuels can reduce the climate change that contributes to floods, tropical storms, and the recent drought that diminished US corn production this year.

As for the RFS, its flexibility allows gasoline refiners to “bank” ethanol credits in years when they use more biofuels than the standard requires. This year, refiners used these excess credits to comply with the standard, reducing demand for corn for ethanol by nearly 14 percent.

Bob Dinneen

President, Renewable Fuels Association

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