- the environment in particular (not to mention everyone’s’ pocketbook except the usual suspects).
- Nobody knows the struggle we’ve seen
It seems sometimes that we have been but a voice in a pretty lonely corner in the contoured cultivated non-wilderness of Iowa, as regards presenting the downside to ethanol mandates (from more than one angle) the EPA is now officially in that corner. Most organizations that ought to know and preach better instead show deference on the matter to the political pubas in the state.
Actually the Republican Party grassroots have realized the folly and principled inconsistency of ethanol mandates and by and large have reflected that in party platforms throughout the state. Sometimes vaguely sometimes directly. It is to their credit and endears us to “the party”. But voicing it has been more our bag and criticizing the powers that be in the party for not being more assertive about the matter and reinforcing the principle in various ways. Chuck and Joni and Kim and Dave and Steve and Rod and Jeff what have you done, how will such things ever end? And don’t get us started again on wind energy.
The article below was linked to in Hot Air and was the basis of the story there. We set the referenced Public News Service below rather than Hot Air, a known conservative site, because of that wire feed’s credential’s – certifiably left-wing (see backgrounder at * below) R Mall
EPA Report Finds Ethanol Causing Environmental Damage
August 2, 2018
NEW YORK — A long-delayed report from the Environmental Protection Agency finds that requiring ethanol made from corn and soybeans to be part of the nation’s gas supply is causing serious environmental harm.
Federal law requires the EPA to assess the environmental impact of the fuel standard every three years, but the new report, issued in July, was four years overdue. According to David DeGennaro with the National Wildlife Federation, the report documents millions of acres of wildlife habitat lost to ethanol crop production, increased nutrient pollution in waterways and air emissions and side effects worse than the gasoline the ethanol is replacing.
“In finding that the Renewable Fuel Standard is having negative consequences to a whole suite of environmental indicators,” DeGennaro said, “the report is a red flag warning us that we need to reconsider the mandate’s scope and its focus on first-generation fuels made from food crops.”
President Donald Trump and senators from agricultural states are urging the EPA to allow an increase in the mandated ethanol content of gasoline.
The EPA report indicates that biofuels have a negative impact on air quality. Johnathan Lewis, senior counsel for climate policy with the Clean Air Task Force, said ethanol from corn in particular is linked to increased emissions of nitrogen oxides, or nox.
“Nox contributes to ozone formation when it mixes with volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight,” Lewis said. “So in most areas of the country, an increase in nox emissions can result in increased ozone formation.”
Ground-level ozone, the main ingredient of smog, is a major cause of asthma and other respiratory illness.
Right now, most gas is E-10, containing 10 percent ethanol. But despite the EPA report’s findings, DeGenarro pointed out there is political pressure to raise the biofuels mandate of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“Just last week, President Trump told an audience in Iowa that he was “very close” to having EPA issue a waiver to the Clean Air Act to allow year-round sale of E-15,” DeGenarro said.
In March, a bill called the GREENER Fuels Act was introduced in Congress to reduce the use of corn ethanol and cap the content in gasoline at less than 10 percent.
To support democracy and promote public dialogue in a rapidly changing media environment, Public News Service (PNS) is a member-supported news service that advocates journalism in the public interest. PNS’s network of state-based news services distribute high quality public interest news and information to both mainstream and alternative media on a daily basis. Support comes from non-profit organizations, foundations, individuals and businesses for social responsibility.
From Public News Service website:
To support democracy and promote public dialogue in a rapidly changing media environment, Public News Service (PNS) is a member-supported news service that advocates journalism in the public interest. PNS’s network of state-based news services distribute high quality public interest news and information to both mainstream and alternative media on a daily basis. Support comes from non-profit organizations, foundations, individuals and businesses for social responsibility.
Note the true blue (as in Democrat) list of supporters financiers of the publication.
R Mall
As long as the Iowa holds the first in the nation test for President, corn ethanol will rule. It’s dumb, but it’s so.