Federal regulators rejected a request from the governors of eight U.S. states to waive requirements for blending corn-based ethanol into gasoline, a mandate they said was driving up food costs during the worst drought in a half century.
In an e-mailed statement today, the Environmental Protection Agency said it had found no evidence of “severe economic harm,” a determination needed to support granting the waiver. The governors of Arkansas, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Virginia, New Mexico and Texas made the request. The group included four Democrats and four Republicans.
“We recognize that this year’s drought has created hardship in some sectors of the economy, particularly for livestock producers,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “But our extensive analysis makes clear that congressional requirements for a waiver have not been met and that waiving the RFS will have little, if any, impact.”
Full article: EPA Rejects Requests to Ease U.S. Corn-Based Ethanol Mandate – Businessweek.
Picture: This year’s U.S. corn harvest is forecast at 10.725 billion bushels, the smallest in six years because of the drought. About 4.5 billion bushels will be used to make ethanol in the year starting Sept. 1, the USDA estimated on Nov. 9. Photo credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
