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Governor, Cattle Producers Urge EPA To Waive Ethanol Requirement
October 23, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott joined several other governors from both parties this week in asking the federal government to suspend the requirement for putting a certain amount of ethanol into America’s gas tanks, saying it’s causing a shortage of cattle feed for Florida ranchers.
A public comment period on the proposal to temporarily suspend the Renewable Fuel Standard, mandating a certain amount of ethanol in the nation’s gas supply, ended earlier this month. The Obama Administration has until Nov. 13 to decide on the question.
The standard is aimed at reducing pollution and the nation’s dependence on crude oil, as well as helping the ethanol industry boost its own production.
But Scott on Tuesday wrote to U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Lisa Jackson voicing support for waiving the requirement, following letters sent by governors of several other states going back to August.
Ethanol producers use about 40 percent of the nation’s corn, and the crop has been severely limited because of this summer’s drought.
“The use of corn, a major source of cattle feed, as a base for ethanol production decreases its availability and increases its price to the detriment of the cattle industry,” Scott wrote. “…Due to the extreme drought conditions, the short supply of corn and an increase in feed prices, Florida’s cattlemen are seeing a significant decrease in the price of feeder cattle, which has had a negative economic impact of $80 million to the industry this year.”
The beef cow industry in Florida is worth more than $4 billion – the state’s ranches have more than a million head of beef cattle.
According to USDA reports, corn prices have increased about 60 percent since June 15.
Governors in North Carolina, Arkansas, Maryland and Delaware have all previously called for a suspension of the fuel standard requirement. All four of those states are big poultry producers.
The Obama Administration has pushed for more renewable energy production and has previously rejected requests to suspend the requirement. The president has said he wants to reduce consumption of foreign oil – and ethanol backers note that the industry produces more than one-and-a-half times the amount of volume than would be produced by approving the Keystone Pipeline to increase the use of Canadian oil by Americans.
The renewable fuels industry opposes the waiver proposal, releasing a statement last week urging the EPA to reject the governors’ requests.
The ethanol industry is already reducing production significantly and said that the impact of a waiver of the requirement on the price of corn would be “trivial.”
“Studies estimating the impact of a potential RFS waiver on corn prices show that waiving the requirements in 2013 might reduce corn prices by as little as $0.04 per bushel, or 0.5 percent,” Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, wrote in a letter to the EPA on Oct. 11. “Further, prices for other feed key ingredients (e.g., distillers grains) may increase in response to a waiver, meaning net feed costs could be unchanged or may actually increase.”
The cattle industry has also filed comments with the EPA on the issue.
“We are looking at the smallest cow herd since 1952, and if input costs continue to increase, we do not expect this trend to turn around in the next several years,” the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said last week.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
13 Responses to “Governor, Cattle Producers Urge EPA To Waive Ethanol Requirement”
David,
I’ve decided I wouldn’t drink gasoline for the ethanol either, thanks. Yes some chemicals like chlorine are needed for safe water but we don’t need MSG and the other flavor enhancers that trick the brain into believing diet foods taste better than they really do. Dr. Blalock says these are the cause of the plaque build up in our brains and are causing the rise in “Oldtimers” disease. I just forgot where I was going with that one. Oh yeah, there are natural pesticides that work well and don’t cause the harm that chemical ones do.
Oh well, I also suffer from the too much fat disease. Want to know why it’s so hard to loose weight. When our organs cannot eliminate all of the poisons that we ingest it wraps them in fat where they can do the least amount of harm. When we diet and start digesting that fat the poisons are released to go through our organ systems again and we get headaches. That’s my excuse for not dieting and I’m sticking to it. I do try to eat whole natural foods with as much fiber as possible. That keeps me regular even if I’m still full of it.
REGARDING:
” many people have no idea how many chemicals we are ingesting”
I thought it was the phytokines or somesuch. not that it matters, I will continue to avoid that benefit since it requires moderation and moderation is so tricky. Total abstinence is simple enough even I can handle it.
One minor point though: Everything anybody ingests is a chemical. Water, protein, fat, starch, sugar, you name it and it is a chemical. Thus, we need to distinguish good chemicals from bad chemicals.
If frankenfood had excessive amounts of bad chemicals which tended to build up in the liver, I might have to forgo eating calf liver and onions. If they don’t build up too badly, I could continue to enjoy the treat. (I’m already not drinking the gasoline with ethanol, just in case.)
Also, as you pointed out, some chemcials are bad but better than not being there. For example chlorinating water avoids hundreds of thousands of diseases per year but chlorine can create problems. If it created a problem for even a thousand people, that would be better than the two orders of magnitude problems for those not getting it. Further, I would bet even the filters sometimes pass some things they shouldn’t.
David made of chemicals,
mostly fats
David,
Moderate use of alcohol thins the blood and keeps blood platelets slick, which is beneficial to keeping our arteries from getting clogged. Long term overuse will destroy your liver. Small amounts of insecticides can be handled by our systems fairly well but we are being bombarded with large quantities of chemicals in our food and environment that tend to build up in our systems because of the chemical overload. Our scientist told us that magarine was better for us than butter but they now know that Omega 6 fats are terrible for us. A small amount of butter is good for us. And balancing our fat intake with more Omega 3 fats counteracts the inflamation response. Limiting the pesticides and chemicals we ingest helps protect our liver and kidneys from the chemical overload that is causing so many health problems. All things in moderation leads to a healthy life but many people have no idea how many chemicals we are ingesting. Preservatives, food enhancers, pesticides, etc. are packed into our food and more doctors are blaming these items for our deteriorating health based on scientific studies. Doctors like Russell Blalock, Gary Null, Johnathan Wright, Joseph Mercola, etc. are writing books and newsletters detailing these problems. Dr. Oz will sometimes refer to these doctors and others when giving his advice on his TV show. Chlorine is great for perventing bacteria in our water but a lot of doctors now recommend filtering our water before we drink it.
REGARDING:
“Insecticides build up in your liver and kidneys and after years of ingestion they will overload your systems. They don’t blow you up right away but they can be very bad for us, just like alcohol, in the long run.”
Since you’re no longer implying we’ll explode if we eat genetically modified corn, I can pose real questions:
Do all insecticides build up in the liver and kidneys?
I ask this because the purpose of genetic modification is to produce in the plant the chemicals which will protect the plant from bugs which would otherwise eat them. Before this was done, farmers had to apply other insecticides or risk losing their crops. So the question regards whether or not the Monsanto corn self-produced insecticides build up like the ones they replaced.
Related to this is the thought that the only way a chemical can build up is if it doesn’t react. I know some insecticides have break-down products, so they must not be building up if the liver is breaking them down.
Next question: Do the insecticides the plants produce exist in large enough amounts in the final food product to build up in the liver? The idea behind this question is that if the amounts are low enough, the projected damage goes away.
You mentioned the long term damage of alcohol for comparison. Being a proper Baptist, I’ve never drunk alcohol, but various doctors say some alcoholic beverages drunk in moderation produce people who are healthier than people like meself who don’t drink at all.
I doubt pesticides could be considered health foods — although they might drive off parasites which do more damage than they — but they might not be as bad as you’ve been led to believe.
David in serious discussion
David,
Insecticides build up in your liver and kidneys and after years of ingestion they will overload your systems. They don’t blow you up right away but they can be very bad for us, just like alcohol, in the long run.
I run marine gas in my mower after several costly repairs caused by ehtanol in the gas. I have had no problems since switching to marine gas . There should be ethanol free gas available for motors than can not tolerate ethanol.
REGARDING:
“The Monsanto GM corn has an insecticide in it that makes bugs blow up after they eat it. The scientist is actually proud to tell people about that. If it blows up bugs then what does it do to us? ”
Let me guess: It makes humans blow up?
It doesn’t make humans blow up?
Why not?
Because humans aren’t bugs?
That’s a silly reason, all pesticides should also kill humans or what good are they?
You say it’s a good thing they only kill bugs and not humans?
But isn’t that inhumane? What will the People for the Ethical Treatment of Bugs say about this?
Oh well, at least those who think they are bugs should be able to avoid it.
David for bug-free food
Abe,
I don’t eat corn unless it is certified organic. The Monsanto GM corn has an insecticide in it that makes bugs blow up after they eat it. The scientist is actually proud to tell people about that. If it blows up bugs then what does it do to us? I guess that’s why the health newsletters are saying don’t eat corn if you want to loose weight.
We’ve all been over the ethanol gas issue before. it has lower energy than 100% gasoline, yielding lower MPG, and it’s just crappy fuel. I won’t run it in my cars. Of course the RFA likes it and quote a likely skewed “study” to support it, they make a lot of money from it.
To me the worst thing about ethanol from corn is that it uses more energy to produce than you get out of it. On the other hand , it is used to reduce air pollution and water pollution. I doubt ten percent is needed to achieve that goal, though.
@ Bill: almost all corn grown today is genetically modified. Everything from the corn syrup in our Cokes, cornmeal mix, canned sweet corn, corn flakes, etc.
Even some of the corn you buy at the roadside stands is GM. If the fresh corn you buy does not have a worm in it then it has been sprayed with chemicals or it is GM.
The main problem I see with GM is when companies such as Monsanto grows pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics, in plants that have a very real chance of crossing with open pollinated varieties.
Want to know why corn is so high? The same reason gas is so high: look to the futures market. We have had the 6th largest corn harvest in history despite the drought.
Make no mistake, this is one of GWB’s big ideas and it turned into another GOP Big Corporation giveaway at our expense.
Using corn for ethanol makes no sense or cents. It cost more to produce then other forms of fuel and diverts food sources, driving up food costs. Of course if it’s GMO corn then it’s probably better to make into ethanol.