Colorado Corn

Congress returned home this week to spend some much-needed time meeting with and listening to the voters that elected them into office. Now is the perfect time for growers to reach contact their members of Congress and remind them why the Renewable Fuel Standard is important to all Americans, such as by saving money at the gas station.

“Corn ethanol plays a pivotal role in America’s fight to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” NCGA President Garry Niemeyer said. “Not only does it help diversify America’s fuel supply but it also fosters a more vibrant economy. Recently, ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by $0.89 per gallon, saving the average American household $800. In addition, American-made ethanol contributed more volume to our fuel supply than the gasoline refined from oil imports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other OPEC nations. We need to remind Congress the RFS is doing its job.”

The Energy Independence and Security Act became law in 2007. Included in the bill was an expanded Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into the nation’s fuel supply by 2022. There is also an allowance for 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2015. The act builds on the progress made by the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the first comprehensive energy legislation the nation has seen in more than a decade.

Ethanol producers and corn growers receive greater market certainty with the establishment of the expanded RFS. The RFS advances the use of domestically produced renewable fuels, encourages new technologies, brings much needed jobs to rural America and enhances U.S. energy independence. A broad coalition of stakeholders, including ethanol and agricultural organizations, environmentalists, oil companies and state air officials, supported the bill.

Corn growers play a pivotal role in advancing the renewable fuels industry. Farmers continue to be a reliable supplier of feed, food, fiber and fuel for the United States and the world marketplace.