(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds applaud the Federal government's decision to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and deny pending waiver requests. Iowa leads the nation in ethanol production, accounting for 25% of total U.S. ethanol production. In addition, Iowa's biofuels industry has added $13.1 billion to our economy, generated $2.4 billion in household income and supported 49,000 jobs.
Gov. Branstad sent a letter earlier this year encouraging the EPA to maintain the RFS and avoid the scenario of adding more uncertainty into the agriculture sector by granting the waiver requests.
Governor Branstad said the following:
"There is no question that this year's drought caused hardships in the agriculture sector, particularly for the livestock producers. The EPA rightfully decided that the waivers were not an effective remedy to those hardships and would have instead injected unnecessary additional uncertainty into another component of the agriculture sector."
Lt. Governor Reynolds stated the following:
"Governor Branstad and I continue to believe that biofuels can play a significant role in diversifying our nation's energy portfolio and making our nation more energy independent."
More information on the EPA decision can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/
