The Environmental Protection Agency visited Midwest farm country yesterday for a hearing on ethanol policy in Kansas City.
The EPA controls how much ethanol has to be blended into our fuel supply by oil refiners. And the agency is trying to thread a very tricky needle.
Oil companies say we need less ethanol because the environmental benefits are overblown and we’re using less gas anyway. Farmers want more ethanol to help prices for corn and soybeans.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is part of the pro-ethanol crowd.
“It’s something that helps us become less reliant on foreign fuel, it’s good for the environment, and it’s also something that helps us create jobs in rural America," he said at Thursday's hearing.
The EPA’s ethanol proposal for the next two years includes modest increases, though at levels far below what Congress originally set out.