On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) held a hearing entitled “Oversight Hearing on Domestic Renewable Fuels.” Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) has long called for Congressional oversight and action to reform the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which was enacted in 2005 and updated in 2007 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. However, the mandate has failed to meet its intended goals, as Ranking Member Vitter (R-LA) mentioned at the hearing.

TCS has written in depth about numerous unintended consequences of the RFS which can be found in our Taxpayer Supports for Corn Ethanol Fact Sheet. Some of these, which were emphasized at the hearing, include including the following:

• Senator Cardin (D-MD) highlighted effects of using 40 percent of our nation’s corn crop for ethanol production – higher food prices for consumers and higher feed prices for livestock producers both in the U.S. and around the world. Of note, he said, “ethanol has a guaranteed market but there is no guaranteed market for poultry.”
• Sen. Barrasso (R-WY) and others cited evidence showing that production of so-called “next-generation biofuels” derived from non-food crops and those with less negative environmental impacts have failed to meet RFS goals.
• Sen. Vitter (R-LA) noted that AAA has warned consumers from filling up with a new 15 percent ethanol blend (E15) that was recently approved by EPA since it could void vehicle warranties and damage small and off-road engines.

At the end of November, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed reduced biofuels volumes for 2014 for the first time since the RFS was enacted. While this is welcome news, as Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Barrasso (R-WY) stressed, Congressional action will be needed to ultimately address this failed policy. This week, TCS joined 32 other organizations in support of new legislation, introduced by Sens. Feinstein (D-CA) and Coburn (R-OK), to eliminate the problematic corn ethanol mandate. This and other reforms are included in similar legislation in the House, introduced by Representatives Goodlatte (R-VA), Costa (D-CA), Womack (R-AR), and Welch (D-VT), which TCS also supports.