Hundreds of corn farmers from across America were in Washington D.C. today to rally for the cuts to corn ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFs) to be overturned. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed cutting corn ethanol by 3.75 billion gallons through 2016. According to the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), which sponsored the rally, this represents nearly 1.5 billion in lost corn demand.
“Our message to the EPA is clear and unequivocal: Don’t mess with the RFS,” said NCGA Chairman Martin Barbre, a farmer from Carmi, Illinois. “We are gathered here today because we all understand what’s at stake.”
Barbre spoke with DomesticFuel.com from the Hill this afternoon and said that legislators really don’t understand how the RFS works. When corn growers and others who support the RFS sit down with them and their staff and walk them through the legislation, he explained, and get a better understanding that corn growers can meet the demand for food, fiber and fuel, they support the RFS returning to levels in which they were intended to be as set forth by the legislation.
Rally attendees heard from Senator Mark Kirk, Representative Tammy Duckworth, farmers, and ethanol industry leaders on the importance of ethanol to strengthening rural economies and protecting our environment and national security. Following the rally, corn farmers visited their congressional offices to spend some one-on-one time in dialogue about the RFS, its importance to rural America, and to assure them, stressed Barbre, that the industry will continue to meet and exceed national and global demands.
Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill) note during his rally remarks, “Illinois farmers export more than a billion bushels of corn annually. That is why I supported them on trade and will continue to support them in the fight for a fair Renewable Fuel Standard.”
Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) added, “American investors and consumers at the gas pump are better off supporting American jobs and access to clean, secure American energy, rather than Middle Eastern oil. As a veteran and a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I see renewable, home-grown fuel as not only critical for our environment and our economy, but also as a national security imperative.”
To close the rally NCGA President Chip Bowling, a farmer from Newburg, Maryland, urged farmers to stand up and make their voice heard. “Now is the time for farmers to stand up for your farms, your families, your communities, and our country,” said Bowling. “We must hold Congress to its promises – and hold the EPA to the law.”
Hear more about the rally and why the EPA shouldn’t mess with the RFS by listening to my interview with Martin Barbre here: Martin Barbre RFS Rally Interview