Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has signed on to bipartisan legislation that would support biofuel producers negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ernst, along with Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R) and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D), is backing a new bill that would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reimburse biofuel producers for their feedstock purchases from January 1st through March 31st of this year through the Commodity Credit Corporation. During a recent visit to Green Plains, Inc. in Shenandoah, Ernst called on the Trump Administration to do its part to support the biofuels industry.
?We just need to really be pushing for some of the ethanol facilities right now,? Ernst said in an interview with KMA Radio. ?And, pushing for the administration to follow through on the promises that they have made. We need to make sure we?re converting some of the E10 pumps ? relabel them ? so that we can utilize E15. We need to get more of our ethanol products out there as the administration promised. We are going to keep pushing the EPA and the White House on this.?
The Red Oak Republican also expressed her displeasure with recent comments by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler regarding the ethanol industry?s impact from COVID-19. Ernst had questioned Wheeler during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing late last month.
?We have this renewed effort within my office and Senator Grassley?s office now since hearing just the really unsatisfactory answers that Andrew Wheeler gave us on the non-progress coming out of EPA to now go back and push him on these issues,? Ernst said. ?We need (him) to explain clearly to me why we don?t have those tanks relabeled. Why is this not happening? Just simply stating ?we haven?t had time? is not a good enough answer.?
Ernst says gasoline use in the U.S. plummeted to 50-year lows when social distancing guidelines were put into place due to COVID-19. She adds the rapid decrease in consumption led to more than 130 biofuel plants to partially or fully shut down. Her latest biofuels bill comes after she had called on the USDA in April to provide additional funds to the biofuel industry.
