Allow cleaner fuel options to compete

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association was deeply disappointed to read Senate candidate Matt Whitaker's guest column urging the elimination of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.

The foundation of Mr. Whitaker's faulty, one-sided premise that eliminating the RFS would leave 'a level playing field that lets market forces decide who succeeds and who doesn't” crumbles when you review the full wealth of facts on the ground and the current state of U.S. energy policy.

In regards to cellulosic ethanol, Mr. Whitaker claims 'new breakthroughs we were promised are further away than we thought.” To that, I simply encourage him to visit Project Liberty in Emmetsburg, DuPont in Nevada, or Quad County Corn Processors in Galva - three breakthroughs set to come online this year, adding a total of 52 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol production capacity in Iowa.

He also attempts to point to 'a domestic oil and natural gas boom, lessening the need for renewable fuels.” Yet, even when our country was recently producing oil at the second-highest rate in nearly 40 years, we still were importing nearly 40 percent of our oil, and gas prices were sky high.

On the other hand, ethanol is the cheapest form of fuel octane in the world; biodiesel provides power and performance while vastly reducing tailpipe and greenhouse gas pollution; and both of these fuels displace foreign oil while boosting our economy. As our supply of dirty, finite fossil fuels continues to shrink, we need more renewable fuels, not less.

Finally, Mr. Whitaker would like you to believe dismantling the RFS would leave a level playing field and free market competition. However, today's energy playing field more closely resembles a soccer field on the side of a steep hill, with petroleum at the top and renewable fuels at the bottom.

The oil industry continues to enjoy taxpayer subsidies and other policy preferences that have been in place since the inception of the tax code in 1913 - literally a century of taxpayer support for the most wealthy and powerful industry in the world!

Yet, there is not a single federal tax credit in place today for ethanol, biodiesel or cellulosic biofuel.

In addition, federal law mandates you power your light-duty vehicle with fuel containing a minimum of 85 percent petroleum (unless you own a flex-fuel vehicle). Tack on federal pipeline loan guarantees, master limited partnerships, a virtual monopoly over the U.S. fuel distribution system, and U.S. military protection of oil shipping lanes - all of which are exclusive to oil - and it's easy to see the energy policy deck heavily stacked in favor of petroleum.

The IRFA encourages Mr. Whitaker to reconsider his position on the RFS. The RFS is the only federal policy cracking open the oil monopoly and allowing cleaner, locally produced renewable fuel options to compete. That's why all of Iowa's elected leaders support a strong and growing RFS.

' Eamonn Byrne is secretary of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Comments: info@iowarfa.org