Biden’s Pro-Ethanol Gas Move is Bad for the Planet and Pointless for Consumers

Washington, DC – Today during a visit to Iowa, President Biden is expected to announce a suspension of seasonal regulations on E15 gasoline, an ethanol-heavy blend of fuel promoted by the corporate factory corn farming industry. Biden is touting this move as providing relief for consumers from high gas prices – yet only about 1.5 percent of gas stations nationwide currently have access to the less expensive E15 blend. 

Meanwhile,  the ethanol industry in Iowa is embroiled in a political melee over three proposed carbon capture pipelines which the industry claims would help mitigate the rampant pollution and environmental degradation caused by ethanol production and related mass-scale factory corn farming. Recent Food & Water Action polling found that a plurality of Iowa voters oppose the carbon pipelines proposed for the state, and 80% oppose using eminent domain to build them.

In response, Food & Water Action’s Managing Policy Director Mitch Jones issued the following statement:

“President Biden’s assertion that the polluting, resource-wasting ethanol industry will somehow magically fix our nation’s gas price crisis is as silly as it is dangerous. Only a tiny fraction of American gas stations currently have access to ethanol-heavy gas in the first place. But more importantly: Biden’s move to double-down on production from the pollution-plagued ethanol industry is driving us deeper into the hole of dirty fossil fuel mixtures. The only valid solution to escaping the grip of expensive, polluting energy is to transition immediately to clean, renewably-sourced electricity for our cars, homes and businesses.”

Contact: Seth Gladstone – [email protected]