During his Oct. 9 rally in Council Bluffs, IA, President Donald Trump announced his intention to make E15—gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol—year-round.
“Today, we are unleashing the power of E15 to fuel our country all year long. Not eight months. All year long,” he said to the crowd, according to a transcript of the rally by Real Clear Politics.
Currently, E15 cannot be sold during the summer due to concerns about increased emissions.
As of press time, there was no official implementation information or timeline. Still, the reactions to the pledge were quite positive.
National groups such as the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) praised the move, thanking Trump.
“Corn farmers across the country have been advocating for year-round sales of higher ethanol blends like E15 to help grow demand, provide consumers with more options at the pump and improve economic conditions across rural America,” said NCGA President Lynn Chrisp.
AFBF President Zippy Duvall called the move a win for U.S. farmers.
“After years of declining farm income, opening up markets to additional fuel choices helps create new demand that farmers desperately need. As our country has worked on breaking our dependency on foreign oil, our farmers have played a major role in helping us become more energy independent.”
How much this will help corn farmers is in question, however, due to the relatively limited market penetration of E15. Specifically, E15 is only sold in 29 states (mostly in the Corn Belt and New England), it needs specialty or retrofitted pumps (currently only about 1,500 public stations are equipped), and it can only be used in certain vehicles (2001 or newer passenger vehicles).
Environmental groups have also challenged the move, with at least one calling it illegal.
“It’s simply not legal under the Clean Air Act to increase the year-round sale of E15 gasoline,” said National Wildlife Federation President and CEO, Collin O’Mara. The group’s response went on, claiming that higher ethanol blends result in increased emissions of ozone-causing chemicals, particularly in the summer. — WLJ
