An ethanol industry leader says he doubts congress will pass a bill anytime soon that would allow the year-round sale of fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol. Wednesday was the deadline for a vote in the U-S House on a bill to end the EPA’s anti-smog rule that bars E-15 from being sold in the summer months. Geoff Cooper is president of the Renewable Fuels Association.
The House Rural Domestic Energy Council, led by Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra, has been negotiating with lawmakers who represent states with oil refineries to try to find a compromise on E-15 after House G-O-P leaders removed a mandate for year-round E-15 sales from a budget bill that passed in January. Cooper spoke with reporters during the National Ethanol Conference that’s underway in Orlando, Florida.
Cooper is skeptical of Feenstra’s effort to craft a bill on E-15 that includes new guidelines for the E-P-A waivers oil refineries may seek to avoid the ethanol-blending mandate.
On Tuesday, Feenstra told the Des Moines Register the snowstorm that hit Washington, D.C. delayed the arrival of lawmakers who were part of E-15 negotiations and a deal may be introduced in the House next week. Iowa advocates for ethanol are expressing frustration. Thursday morning, the Iowa Corn Growers posted a message on social media saying corn prices are falling, rural economies feel the pressure and it’s time for congress to finish the job on E-15.
