ga pr

Georgia Governor Petitions EPA
to limit Ethanol Mandates

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georgia-Proud-to-Call-It-Home/132453750231658

Summary: In response to the
unprecedented drought that is
decimating crops in large areas of
the South and Midwest, Georgia
Governor Nathan Deal is asking the
EPA to suspend regulations that
require a large share of the US corn
crop to be used to produce ethanol.

(August 22, 2012) – Georgia Governor Nathan
Deal has made a formal petition to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
suspend the federal ethanol mandates of the
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as a response to
the severe drought which is affecting major
grain-producing areas of the Southern and
Midwestern US.


Under the ethanol mandates, ethanol fuel
made from corn is blended with gasoline to
encourage the development of domestic
energy sources. The current policy requires
refiners to blend 13.2 billion gallons of
ethanol into gasoline supplies during 2012
and 13.8 billion gallons next year. As a result,
about 40% of the total corn production in the
United States will be used to produce ethanol,
according to the International Food Policy
Research Institute.


Farmers complain that this policy wrongly
diverts a large share of the feed corn they
need for their livestock and drives up corn
prices that have already inflated by the
unusually long dry season. In fact, Governor
Deal's petition to the EPA states that poultry
farmers in Georgia are collectively spending
about $1.4 million more in feed costs each day
due to combined effects of the drought and
the ethanol rules. According to the Governor,
these higher costs are causing severe
economic harm and threaten to put livestock
producers in Georgia out of business.

Georgia is the fifth state to join in the request for a waiver
of the Renewable Fuel Standard, joining Maryland,
Delaware, North Carolina, and Arkansas. Several U.S.
Senators and Representatives as well as several livestock
producers also have signed letters indicating their support
of an RFS waiver.


The EPA announced on August 20, 2012 that
it would consider the petitions that it has
received and has begun collecting public
comments on these waiver requests as a first
step in the review process. The comments will
be used to judge what effects the current
mandate will have on the US economy if it is
not adjusted. Comments will be collected for
30 days, and the EPA will evaluate them and
reach a decision within 90 days.


The EPA's request for public comments regarding the waiver of the
Renewable Fuel Standard is available at
http://www.epa.gov/oms/fuels/renewablefuels/documents/2012-rfs-
waiver-request-comment.pdf


In addition to the EPA's official site, a number
of other websites are helping to spread
awareness about the need for adjustments in
the Renewable Fuel Standard in the wake of
the ongoing US drought. Among these is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georgia-
Proud-to-Call-It-Home/132453750231658,
a Facebook fanpage that offers an online
community where people can share their
thoughts and comments about the latest
Georgia news and events.


"We feel it is very important to get the news
out about how crucial the ethanol mandate
waiver would be for Georgia livestock
farmers," notes page administrator S.S. Ober-
Lehn. "And Facebook's international appeal
makes the Georgia Proud to Call It Home
fanpage a natural place for anyone who is
concerned about the rising costs of corn and
its effects on Georgia's agriculture and
economy to come together to discuss this
serious situation and help spread awareness
about it."


To find out more about current news and events
in Georgia, please visit

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Georgia-Proud-to-Call-It-
Home/132453750231658

ga pr

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to ga pr

Similar to ga pr (13)

More from mfadegree

More from mfadegree (10)

ga pr