Renewable Fuels Standard Reform

One of the main objections voiced by those opposed to ethanol is the impact of corn ethanol production on food prices. Throw commodity price volatility on top of that and you have a pretty strong argument against ethanol. Unfortunately, the government hasn’t done much on it’s part to allay consumer and ag industry concerns when it comes to corn ethanol production. The federal Renewable Fuels Standard mandates that 15.2 billion gallons of ethanol be produced this year. The RFS does not have any options in place for lawmakers to use in order to slow down the amount of ethanol that must be produced annually in times of a disaster, such as this year’s drought. Because of this a coalition of livestock and poultry groups is urging Congress to reform the RFS. Doing so would go a long way in promoting the ethanol cause. I don’t believe there is any one who would disagree with the fact that we as a nation need to find an alternative fuel source to crude oil. But it’s hard to rally behind ethanol while gasoline prices continue to climb and paying the grocery bill means having to get a small loan from the local money lender.