WASHINGTON, DC — Following the request to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) from North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell, Tom Buis CEO of Growth Energy released the following statement:
“The waiver request filed today by the Governors of Arkansas and North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware is unnecessary and based on misinformation. First, the RFS contains plenty of flexibility to ensure that the volume goals can be met when shortages occur, such as this drought. Hysteria and misinformation should not dictate policy directives.
“The marketplace always has worked and always will work in rationing demand for commodities that are in short supply. Already, market forces have taken effect – the production of ethanol has declined by 15 percent and corn prices have already dropped .36 cents from last week.
“Furthermore, the governors continue to use misinformation saying that corn ethanol uses 40 percent of the corn crop – we do not. In fact, only 16 percent of the corn acres harvested goes to ethanol production. Just one-third of the kernel is used for ethanol, with all the protein, fiber and oil being returned to the food chain in the form of a high protein animal feed, which replaces corn and soybean meal and is less expensive.
“It is not the ethanol industry that is causing the economic harm; it is Mother Nature – specifically a lack of rain and record high temperatures are the true culprits of rising commodity prices, something that neither the EPA, nor any government agency is able to fix.
“To blame the ethanol industry due to a lack of rain does not make any sense. These governors are asking American family grain farmers who are already suffering crop loss to also take a further loss by limiting their market through a domestic grain embargo, benefiting large corporate food companies by lining their pockets at the expense of the family farmer, and our nation’s pursuit of energy independence.
“I have full faith that the Environmental Protection Agency’s review of this petition will conclude the facts – any economic harm that may result is due to the drought, not ethanol production.”
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About Growth Energy
Growth Energy represents the producers and supporters of ethanol who feed the world and fuel America in ways that achieve energy independence, improve economic well-being and create a healthier environment for all Americans now.