Jan. 7, 2014 5:37 PM | Opinion = Iowa City Press-Citizen
Written by Bob Dvorsky
The Environmental Protection Agency needs to reassess its stance on ethanol.
The EPA is set to change rules that could harm Iowa’s families and local economies. As someone who was the first state senator to endorse President Obama in 2007, I urge the EPA to not cut the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Recently there has been much discussion of gas prices and renewable fuels. The Renewable Fuel Standard ensures that certain amounts of homegrown, renewable fuel end up in gasoline. This law has made historic progress in boosting our economy and reducing carbon emissions. The ability of Iowa to produce ethanol to meet this demand is one of the reasons the RFS has been so successful.
Big Oil has spent millions lobbying in Washington to eliminate the RFS. The more clean fuel that is made within the U.S. means that less oil is imported from companies with interests overseas. Oil companies claim that gas prices will be raised because of renewable fuels like ethanol, but this is just another profit-motivated scare tactic. We have seen these tactics before when the Koch Brothers tried to get involved in Coralville’s elections. We in Iowa need to continue to fight for renewable fuels.
The truth is that ethanol, made right here in Iowa, is the best chance we have at a clean fuel source. Not only does ethanol produce less pollution than normal gas, every cent made off the production goes into our domestic economy. The industry supports more than 55,000 jobs across the state. These people are our neighbors. They are farmers, operators and suppliers.
The EPA is choosing Big Oil over these Iowans with its proposed rule of reducing ethanol in the RFS. I urge the EPA to support ethanol just like Obama did in 2007 when I endorsed his run for the White House.
Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, is chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the Iowa Senate.