The Iowa GOP is under fire this week from biofuel supporters including the pro-biofuel association, Americans United for Change for its stance on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Iowa Republican Party published on its site that the “perfect world” is one devoid of the RFS and their site actually called for a repeal of the RFS, until today that is. As other organizations have published, including the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), Iowa’s biofuels industry supports 73,000 American jobs.
Prior to the Iowa GOP’s site going down, under their “about section” they published their platform. This included:
- 8.6: The use of biofuels, such as ethanol blended gasoline, biodiesel, and E-85 should be encouraged, but must not be mandated or subsidized.
- 8.7: We oppose the use of any regulatory body to dictate the type of energy that will be produced and used. Energy production should be based on free-market economics…
- 8.9: We should end the federal petroleum mandate and allow for consumer fuel choice.
According to a recent poll from the Des Moines Register, 77 percent of Iowa voters support extending the RFS. Americans United for Change Communications Director Jeremy Funk asked the question, “How out of touch are Joni Ernst and the Iowa GOP?
“Looks like Joni Ernst isn’t the only one in the Iowa Republican Party who is ‘philosophically opposed’ to the Renewable Fuel Standard – that’s now the formal position of her political party,” said Funk. “What were they thinking including RFS repeal in their party platform? Obviously not much about Iowa jobs, and obviously too much about Big Oil money. From the Koch Brothers to the American Petroleum Institute to Exxon-Mobil, to the U.S. Chamber, to the Iowa Republican Party, it’s no coincidence that Joni Ernst is getting her strongest support from the strongest opponents of the RFS.”
Funk added, “While the Iowa Republican Party is clearly a flawed surrogate to defend Ernst’s misguided position on the RFS, it is not stopping them from trying. Earlier this week, the Iowa GOP promoted a news clip of a former Democratic Senator from Virginia echoing the same anti-RFS sentiments that Joni Ernst has voiced time and again. That the Iowa GOP would choose to highlight this news clip suggests that they believe Joni Ernst is above criticism for her anti-RFS views because they are shared by a former Senator from Virginia, a state which produces a tiny fraction of the biofuels that Iowa does. News flash for Iowa GOP: Virginia is not Iowa. News flash for Joni Ernst: you’re running to represent Iowa, not Texas.”