The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) sent a letter this week to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson thanking her for EPA’s consideration of the application for approval to use ethanol blends up to E15.

Just a few days before the waiver petition was filed, Administrator Jackson met with a group of 30 ethanol supporters who traveled to Washington DC for the “Biofuels Beltway March,” a grassroots ethanol advocacy fly-in organized by ACE. In the letter, ACE executive vice president Brian Jennings expressed his appreciation to Jackson for taking time to meet with the group.

“We are most grateful you took the time to address our concerns about the E10 blend wall and the role EPA has in examining the scientific data to consider how midlevel blends, up to E15, may be approved for use in motor vehicles,” said Jennings. “ACE agrees with you that science, not politics, must drive the decision to move beyond E10. We are further convinced the scientific data contained in our petition and available today on the use of blends up to 15 in legacy motor vehicles justifies its approval.”

Jennings also invited Jackson to visit “a modern-day, state-of-the-art ethanol biorefinery to discover more about how technology innovations are helping biofuels contribute to a low-carbon future” and offered to arrange a tour of a facility for the administrator or her staff.