Ethanol production plummets as people drive less during pandemic

Ethanol plants across the country are shutting down due to greatly reduced demand for gasoline as Americans stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus. At least 44 of the nation's 187 plants stopped production last week as prices hit record lows, said Josh Roe, the vice president of market development and policy at the Kansas Corn Growers Association. Another 62 had scaled back production by at least 50 percent. Ethanol -- which is made from corn -- was trading at under 90 cents per gallon on Monday, down from nearly $1.50 at the start of the year, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Industry groups expect production to continue to drop until more people begin to leave their homes and start to drive again. Demand for ethanol is closely tied to demand for finished gasoline. Federal law outlined in the Renewable Fuel Standard requires oil refiners blend a minimum percentage of biofuels into their petroleum products. Most of the finished motor gasoline sold in the United States contains at least 10 percent ethanol. Demand for ethanol and gasoline are falling at about the same rate. Finished motor gasoline production dropped more than 40 percent between Feb. 28 and April 3, according to the Department of Energy. Ethanol production during that same period dropped about 35 percent...MORE

Politics News 'Your EPA went too far': Farmers hit hard by Trump EPA's new ethanol rules are fuming

President Donald Trump won 93 out of Iowa’s 99 counties in the 2016 presidential race — the most for a GOP nominee since 1980 — thanks in no small part to local farmers. But now, farmers here are questioning if they'll vote for him again. "Farmer tensions are running pretty tight out here right now,” Duane Aistrope, a corn and soybean farmer in Randolph, Iowa — roughly two hours southwest of Des Moines — told NBC News. "We got him elected out here in the Midwest — the farmers did." The Midwest agricultural industry is up in arms not only due to the president's trade war, but because the Environmental Protection Agency recently exempted 31 small oil refineries from rules that would require them to blend ethanol, which comes from corn, into their fuel supply. Those exemptions are now forcing farmers to grapple with lost revenue from wasted crops. Aistrope is one Midwestern corn farmer who, through the last two seasons, has battled depressed corn prices. Many farmers like him have stuck with Trump during his protracted trade war with China, arguing that the U.S. does need to fix its trade policy with Beijing. But now farmers such as Aistrope say these waivers are a step too far. "Hopefully he’ll take care of us and do things right: Just uphold the laws for the ethanol industry that Congress put into place," Aistrope said. The Renewable Fuel Standard is a law that requires the U.S. fuel supply to use a certain amount of corn ethanol in the country’s gasoline market to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the country’s reliance on imported oil, according to the EPA. Corn makes up roughly one-third of crop produced in the U.S. and over the past several decades its production has steadily risen, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forty percent of total corn use in the U.S. is tied to growing ethanol production, according to the agency. And Iowa is among the top corn-producing states. However, since Trump took office, his EPA has issued 85 exemptions to oil refineries to stop blending ethanol in their fuel — a staggering increase from previous administrations. The waivers have extended to giant oil corporations such as Chevron and Exxon. As a result, more than one dozen ethanol plants have shut down or halted production across the country this year...MORE

Trump's EPA unveils plan to pump up ethanol as Big Oil cries foul

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released its proposed rule lifting a summer ban on higher-ethanol blends of gasoline to help farmers, putting the agency on a collision course with Big Oil which has called the move illegal. The proposal to broaden sales of the so-called E15 rule marks the latest flashpoint in an ongoing battle between the corn and oil industries - two crucial constituencies for President Donald Trump - over America’s biofuels policy. Corn farmers support any move by Washington that would expand their sales into the multibillion-gallon biofuel market, but oil companies dislike the competition and refiners say adding ethanol to their fuel costs them a fortune. “Consistent with President Trump’s direction, EPA is working to propose and finalize these changes by the summer driving season,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a press release. “We will be holding a public hearing at the end of this month to gather important feedback.” E15 gasoline contains 15 percent ethanol, versus the 10 percent in most U.S. gasoline. A summertime ban on E15 had been imposed years ago over concerns that it contributes to smog in hot weather, though recent studies have shown its impact on air quality may not be significantly different from that of E10. The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil trade group, called on the administration to scrap what it called an “anti-consumer policy,” noting for example that some U.S vehicles could lose their warranties if they use E15. It called the proposal “contrary to the law.”...MORE

How cattle can help save the birds of the Great Plains

Rancher Bill Milton surveys his land with wildlife biologist Dan Casey from a bumpy dirt road etched into the mottled green and gold landscape, 50 miles outside of Billings. Rolling through the land in Casey’s Prius, we’re on the western margin of the northern Great Plains, where shortgrass prairie once dominated the landscape. Casey points out an apple-sized bird on the right hand of the road. It’s a chestnut-collared longspur, whose males sport a glossy black breast topped with a rich brown collar. Once numerous in the short and mixed grass prairies that used to be trimmed naturally by bison and wildfire, the longspur’s population has declined by more than 80 percent in the last 50 years. It’s not just this species that’s in trouble, says Casey, who co-authored the tome Birds of Montana, as well as the state’s massive avian management plan. According to Casey, since 1970 Great Plains grassland songbirds have declined nearly 70 percent, a collapse rivaling that of insect and marine fish populations. Climate change, outdated grazing practices and urbanization are definite factors in the decline but agriculture's intensification is the main culprit. Rancher Bill Milton surveys his land with wildlife biologist Dan Casey from a bumpy dirt road etched into the mottled green and gold landscape, 50 miles outside of Billings. Rolling through the land in Casey’s Prius, we’re on the western margin of the northern Great Plains, where shortgrass prairie once dominated the landscape. Casey points out an apple-sized bird on the right hand of the road. It’s a chestnut-collared longspur, whose males sport a glossy black breast topped with a rich brown collar. Once numerous in the short and mixed grass prairies that used to be trimmed naturally by bison and wildfire, the longspur’s population has declined by more than 80 percent in the last 50 years. It’s not just this species that’s in trouble, says Casey, who co-authored the tome Birds of Montana, as well as the state’s massive avian management plan. According to Casey, since 1970 Great Plains grassland songbirds have declined nearly 70 percent, a collapse rivaling that of insect and marine fish populations. Climate change, outdated grazing practices and urbanization are definite factors in the decline but agriculture's intensification is the main culprit...
 
Two sides of the road Though these birds and transient and somewhat inconspicuous, they can be spotted with a trained eye—and the economic services they provide humans include seed dispersal, insect predation, pollination, not to mention their symphony of songs. Casey explains, as we sit in the car, the differences between the left and the right side of the road. The left is dominated by non-native species like alfalfa and clover, appearing as a mix of olive, sage, and green tones. The right side, where we see much more bird life, appears more brown and wilted—but is actually healthier and more suitable for wildlife. Closer inspection of the ground on the left reveals hard and nearly bare terrain. “There are no grasses for the birds to nest in,” Casey explains. Local plant species that once sustained the ecosystem have been pushed out by exotic crops. The right side of the road, while less verdant, includes a mix of a native species like blue gramma, buffalo grass, and fringed sage. Decomposing duff from the prior season pads and protects the soil, a shade darker from the moisture it retains. Compared to the other side, this land is more resistant to weather extremes, disease, and unwanted insects—and provides more food, habitat, and serves as a storehouse of carbon, water, and important nutrients...MORE 

 agriculture's intensification is the main culprit

And what was the primary cause of that? Corn production now takes up 97 million acres, and Congress has been subsidizing corn ethanol for 30 years (now at around $6 billion a year), and farmers have responded by planting additional acreages of corn.

According to this article

That wasn't what was intended when Carter promoted the use of ethanol as a way to get America off imported oil, offering subsidies to industries to mix the fuel. The industry never really took off — even with the subsidies. By 2001, barely 6 percent of the corn crop was being used to produce ethanol. But new energy policies brought in by George W Bush which set production quota to encourage the use of biofuels allowed the industry to take off. By last year, nearly 40 percent of U.S. corn was going to produce ethanol.

The Scientific American writes

And the resources devoted to growing corn are increasing dramatically. Between 2006 and 2011, the amount of cropland devoted to growing corn in America increased by more than 13 million acres, mainly in response to rising corn prices and the increasing demand for ethanol.

The DC Deep Thinkers subsidize corn ethanol, which causes additional crop acreage to be planted and thus replacing prairie land and destroying bird habitat. Now they've come up with a new program, the Northern Great Plains Joint Venture spearheaded by the USFWS, to overcome a problem which they created in the first place.

Thankfully, the current budget crisis may bring an end to this unwise subsidy. 

EPA Waivers Could Rob $20 Billion From Ethanol Demand

 Sonja Begemann

Over the next six years, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refinery exemptions could steal 4.6 billion gallons of domestic ethanol demand—resulting in nearly $20 billion in potential sales lost, according to a recent analysis by the University of Missouri Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI)...MORE

Notice the title says "rob" and the column says "steal".

If there is any theft here, it was the government-coerced purchase of the 4.6 billion gallons of ethanol, robbing the consumer of choosing the product of their choice. If the government forced you to give 10 percent of your labor to a neighbor, and then removed that requirement, would you be "stealing" from your neighbor?

Republican senator threatens to call on Pruitt to resign

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is threatening to push for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt’s resignation over ethanol policy. Grassley made the threat Tuesday as part of a warning to Pruitt against the EPA’s reported “hardship” waivers, which are given to fuel refineries to exempt them from the federal ethanol mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “Well, they better, or I’m going to be calling for Pruitt to resign, because I’m done playing around with this” he said of his request that EPA stop issuing the waivers to individual small refineries owned by large companies. Grassley argued that waivers violate promises by Pruitt and President Trump to keep the annual federal ethanol mandate at the level Congress called for in 2007, which is currently 15 billion gallons. His state is dominant nationally in corn production, and the ethanol mandate has significantly ramped up demand for corn to create the biofuel. He fears the waivers will chip away at the mandate and hurt Iowa. “Trump was elected with an agenda, Pruitt was not elected, and it's Pruitt’s job to carry out the Trump agenda,” he said in a call. Grassley reiterated the threat later Tuesday in a tweet. “I’ve supported Pruitt but if he pushes changes to RFS that permanently cut ethanol by billions of gallons he will have broken Trump promise & he should step down & let someone else do the job of implementing Trump agenda if he refuses,” Grassley wrote...MORE

Amazing. All the first-class travel, condo renting, and over the top security are ok, but by God if he cuts subsidies to ethanol he should resign.

Trump plans to withdraw climate skeptic's nomination to environmental office: report

The White House is planning on withdrawing the nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White to lead the Council on Environmental Quality, according to The Washington Post. Administration officials told the publication that Hartnett White's nomination did not garner enough momentum and some Senate Republicans had expressed reservations about her experience. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Hartnett White, who is a fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, has expressed uncertainty on how much humans have contributed to climate change. “I’m not a scientist, but in my personal capacity, I have many questions that remain unanswered by current climate policy,” she said at her confirmation hearing. “I think we indeed need to have more precise explanations of the human role and the natural role," she continued. She was also a critic of the Obama administration’s environmental initiatives, calling them a “deluded and illegitimate battle against climate change” in an op-ed for The Hill last year and arguing against regulations such as the Clean Power Plan rule for power plants. The Council on Environmental Quality deals with a variety of issues such as infrastructure, conservation and air quality...more.

This very well may be a case of Republican Senators from the Midwest worried about losing the subsidies for ethanol:

Republican Senators Deb Fischer, of Nebraska, and Joni Ernst, of Iowa, repeatedly questioned White over her position on ethanol, asking whether she would commit to supporting the Renewable Fuel Standard, always rely on “accurate information” when advising the president on the issue and commit to not ending the Renewable Fuel Standard before 2022.

Gasoline stations team up to fight ethanol mandate change

More than two dozen companies that run or license gas stations are teaming up to fight a proposed change to the federal ethanol mandate that could hurt them. The Main Street Energy Alliance launched Wednesday, with members including Cumberland Farms, Sheetz Inc., QuikTrip, BP, 7 Eleven Inc., the National Association of Convenience Stores and the truck stop lobbying group NATSO. It is fighting an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal that would shift the burden of complying with the federal ethanol blending mandate to fuel sellers — like the companies in the coalition — instead of refining companies. The proposal to shift the so-called point of obligation for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has a high-profile backer: billionaire investor and President Trump adviser Carl Icahn. His fuel refining company, CVR Energy, stands to gain millions of dollars a year if the proposal is implemented...more

Ethanol mandate for 2017 nears finalization

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said Thursday that it received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the final volume mandate for fuel refiners to blend ethanol and other biofuels into traditional oil-based fuels like gasoline. The OMB review is the final step before the EPA can formally make the volume mandates final. It is required by law to establish the mandate by Nov. 30 of each year, but it has rarely met that deadline in recent years. The EPA proposed in May to require that 18.8 billion gallons of biofuels be blended into the fuel supply in 2017, up to 14.8 billion gallons of which can be basic, corn-based ethanol. The proposed level was higher than the expected ethanol production volume for 2016 but still lower than the amount that Congress asked the EPA to set when it wrote the renewable fuel standard in 2007. The agency used a waiver provision written into the law to propose the level...more

Hillary's ethanol flip-flop reveals a Democratic sclerosis on cronyism

Hillary Clinton once opposed the ethanol mandate, which harms drivers, consumers, ranchers, the environment and the economy.  Now, as she runs for president, Clinton supports the mandate, which benefits the state of Iowa — and in exchange, presumably, she's earned the endorsement of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, an ethanol-subsidy aficionado. During the 2002 debate over an energy bill that included an ethanol mandate, Clinton took to the Senate floor to say that while she believed ethanol had potential, she couldn't support "an astonishing new anti-consumer government mandate — that every US refiner must use an ever-increasing volume of ethanol." Earlier this year, Clinton wrote in a local Iowa paper that Iowans "deserve to be able to get ahead and stay ahead. To make that possible," she supports the ethanol mandate. Hillary's flip-flop, and the utter lack of principle or shame behind it, shocks nobody who has paid attention to Mrs. Clinton's political career. But Clinton is one of a long line of erstwhile ethanol opponents who converted on the road to Des Moines...more

Castrating conservative principles in Iowa

by  Froma Harrop

...Two fierce winds have made it especially thorny for conservatives to justify blowing huge sums on energy projects — for oil and gas in Alaska, as well as for ethanol in the Corn Belt.

One is the conservative respect for market forces. A boom in production has actually created an energy glut. The global price for oil recently sank below $90 a barrel.

The other is the successful conservative crusade to curb federal spending. There's less money sloshing around for dubious programs, as well as the noble ones.

"National support for the ethanol program is collapsing as the reality of corn ethanol has become more and more apparent," Craig Cox of the Environmental Working Group told me. EWG has been a forceful critic of U.S. farm programs and their impact on the environment.

The ethanol giveaway comes on top of the usual bonanza of farm subsidies. But now, because of the ethanol craze, "farmers trip over themselves planting every square foot they can find with corn," said Cox, who's based in Ames.

The result has been fouled water supplies. There's also a soaring world price for food — and for feed, hurting pig farmers and cattle ranchers.

Oil refiners are also taking it on the chin. Today's big ethanol subsidy comes in the form of a mandate requiring refiners to blend 15 billion gallons of ethanol into motor fuels by 2015.

"There's only so much ethanol that can be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply," especially as fuel consumption declines, Cox noted. The blend is typically 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline.

The current flashpoint is a pending Environmental Protection Agency decision to possibly roll back the mandate. The American Petroleum Institute is leading the charge for that.

By the way, the one compelling rationale for ethanol was that it would reduce carbon emissions. And the blending mandate theoretically rests on ethanol's cutting those greenhouse gases by 20 percent.

Recent science shows that on the contrary, ethanol increases them. But no matter.

"The funny little secret," Cox said, "is the fine print in the 2007 energy law, which exempts all existing ethanol plants or plants that commenced construction from that requirement." In other words, all 15 billion gallons stay.

READ ENTIRE COLUMN

Producers Panic as Ethanol Mandate Loses Support

Ethanol producers are panicking amid speculation that the ethanol mandate could be drastically reduced or scrapped entirely this year as the biofuel loses its allure and bipartisan allies and former friends team up against it. December saw California Democrat Dianne Feinstein—a renewable fuel champion--coordinate efforts with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to come up with a Senate bill to get rid of ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), citing fears that corn-based fuel production mandates will harm livestock producers.  In November, Washington proposed cutting the biofuels mandate for 2014 by 16% to 15.21 billion gallons. This would be the first cut in biofuels requirements, which were ideally set to grow each year with incremental increases in renewable fuel targets laid out in a 2007 law. For renewable fuel targets, this represents a major setback because not only is 15.21 billion gallons for 2014 much less than the originally intended 18.15 billion gallons, it is also less than this year’s mandate of 16.55 billion gallons...more

 Excellent!  Some good news for a change.

EPA Trims Ethanol Mandate for First Time, Corn Prices Fall

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday unveiled a proposal that would lower the annual requirement for ethanol used in gasoline, sending corn prices lower. The EPA said it plans to require that refiners blend 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuel, mostly ethanol, into U.S. gasoline supplies next year. The new requirement would be 16% less than what Congress wrote into a 2007 law. The agency has the ability to trim the mandate. The ethanol program has undergone intense scrutiny this week in the wake of an investigative report from the Associated Press, which suggested the government’s support of ethanol is having an adverse effect on land set aside for conservation. The EPA’s latest proposal will be open to 60 days of public comment. It would then be made final in the spring of 2014.

 It would then be made final in the spring of 2014

I'm trying to think...isn't 2014 an election year?

Oil-and-gas lobby might take ethanol fight to Supreme Court

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is "strongly considering" asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case regarding sales of a high-ethanol fuel blend, API Group Downstream Director Bob Greco said Tuesday. The Supreme Court move would represent another escalation in API’s campaign to roll back rules and court decisions vital to the biofuels industry. Greco said API would need to file a petition for a rehearing by mid-April. In question is a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruling that upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to allow E15 fuel into the marketplace.
EPA and the biofuels industry have said the fuel blend — which contains 15 percent ethanol, rather than the standard 10 percent — is safe for cars made in 2001 or later. But API and automakers contend E15 damages cars. API floated the Supreme Court option during a Tuesday press call announcing research that it and automakers funded showing E15 harms cars. The E15 court case is one part of the lobby group's congressional and legal battles to block E15 sales and to repeal a biofuel-blending mandate...more