Mr. President: I rise today to reintroduce bipartisan legislation. The ``Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2021'' is cosponsored by Senators Pat Toomey, Bob Menendez, and Susan Collins and…
Mr. President: I rise today to reintroduce bipartisan legislation. The ``Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2021'' is cosponsored by Senators Pat Toomey, Bob Menendez, and Susan Collins and would end the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
The mandate requires annual increases in the amount of renewable fuel that must be blended into the total volume of gasoline refined and consumed in the United States.
Our bill would amend the Renewable Fuel Standard to remove the volume requirements for corn ethanol while leaving in place the requirement that oil companies use low-carbon advanced bio fuels, including cellulosic biofuel and biodiesel.
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was initially included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and subsequently amended in 2007. The RFS sought to reduce our dependence on oil and increase production of biofuels for transportation. It requires gasoline and diesel producers to blend increasing volumes of renewable biofuels in their supply.
The law includes separate volume requirements for four categories of biofuels: 1) unspecified (completely filled by corn ethanol, also called the ``corn ethanol mandate''); 2) advanced biofuels; 3) cellulosic biofuel; and 4) biodiesel.
The EPA is authorized to reduce the required volumes if supply does not match the statutory volume. Every year since 2014, the total production of all ethanol exceeded the ``blend wall''--the amount of ethanol that can safely be blended into the fuel supply, which is about 10% of gasoline. A blend beyond 10% ethanol can damage car engines.
Unfortunately, rather than encourage the development of more advanced biofuels with lower carbon emissions, the RFS has resulted in a market flooded with ethanol, which has higher carbon emissions than other advanced biofuels.
This year oil companies will be required to use 33 billion gallons of renewable fuel, and next year the requirement will increase to 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel.
The original law requires that an increasing portion of this mandate be met using low-carbon advanced biofuels that are not derived from corn starch and reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent.
However, last year, 15 billion gallons of the statutory requirement was met using corn ethanol.
The corn ethanol mandate is unwise and unworkable for several reasons.
First, the corn ethanol mandate results in 40% of the U.S. corn crop being used for fuel and not food, nearly double the rate compared to before the RFS was passed. Ethanol production requires 38 million acres of land--an area larger than the state of Illinois--which could be used to feed 150 million people.
We should prioritize our agriculture and land use toward feeding people and combating the climate crisis, not perpetuating it, particularly when severe drought threatens crops throughout the West.
Second, the corn ethanol mandate has increased the price of corn and products made from corn, such as livestock feed. This has made it more expensive for families to put food on their table.
Third, corn ethanol production achieves little to no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over regular oil and poses other environmental risks, including deforestation, habitat destruction and diminished water quality or availability due to cropland expansion.
Finally, as fuel economy standards and increased vehicle electrification drive down gasoline consumption, the RFS mandate exceeds the limit at which ethanol can be blended safely into the fuel supply--roughly 10% of total gasoline consumption.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's final 2013 rule establishing renewable fuel standards, the ``EPA does not foresee a scenario in which the market could consume enough ethanol . . . to meet the volumes . . . stated in the statute.''
The Congressional Budget Office confirmed this judgment in a June 2014 report, saying that the statutory goal of escalating corn ethanol volumes would be ``very hard to meet in future years.''
The Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act would make necessary fixes to the Renewable Fuel Standard, reducing our reliance on corn ethanol.
Our bill would address the blend wall directly, thereby allowing EPA to continue increasing volumes of lowcarbon advanced biofuels.
It would also maintain important provisions that encourage the development of low-carbon advanced biofuels, like cellulosic ethanol, algae-based fuel and biodiesel.
This would increase the market for the innovative, nascent, domestic industry that this statute was designed to support.
The Federal corn ethanol mandate no longer makes sense when better, lower-carbon alternatives exist. I urge my colleagues to join us in passing this important legislation to eliminate the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
