On her way to the Capitol Wednesday to vote on re-opening the federal government, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) spoke to Agri-Pulse during a webinar on “The Race for Renewable Fuels to Improve Rural Prosperity.” She addressed a number of renewable fuel related topics, including year-round E15, maritime biofuels, SAF, and RVOs, as well as the farm economy, high input costs, and the continuing resolution.

Miller-Meeks says she is still hopeful for year-round E15. “I think year round E15 is getting it into like last December, we had it in a year end package, trying to get that back into another year-end package,” she said in an interview with Agri-Pulse Founder and Publisher Sara Wyant. “I know that Representative Adrian Smith is working on that. Myself and all of the Iowa delegation are working on that. We continue to push those issues and advocate for year-round E15.”

Miller-Meeks discussed the importance of the maritime industry as a new market for U.S. biofuels. “We know that the global shipping Industry consumes about 70 to 80 billion gallons of fuel annually, and that’s a market that can be open for U.S. producers, especially in biofuels. And if they’re allowed to compete freely, I think we could capture 4 to 5 billion additional gallons of biofuels,” she said. “So whether it is in biodiesel or whether it’s in ethanol, this is a market we certainly want to capture.”

LIsten to the interview here:
Rep. Miller-Meeks interview with Agri-Pulse (9:11)