ACE encourages member attendance at Perdue town hall meeting
Posted on 05/04/2017
Sioux Falls, SD (May 4, 2017) – The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) encourages its members to join the Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a town hall meeting to be held at the farm of Bill Couser of Couser Cattle Company near Nevada, Iowa, Friday, May 5.
Given the sluggish state of the farm economy, Secretary Perdue’s town hall is a timely opportunity to encourage the Trump administration to take steps to help increase demand for renewable fuels like ethanol in the U.S.
Below are some points that ACE finds important to restore badly needed economic security to rural America, and we encourage our members to bring these to the attention of Secretary Perdue during the upcoming town hall meeting.
- Most importantly, thank him for USDA’s support of Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) grant funds which will help install nearly 5,000 new pumps for E15 and higher blends of ethanol at nearly 1,500 stations nationwide.
- Urge Secretary Perdue to help convince EPA Administrator Pruitt to provide regulatory relief (Reid vapor pressure) for E15 and flex fuels and to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on track by issuing timely annual blending targets based on congressional intent.
- Tell the Secretary that the federal government needs to cut the red tape holding high octane fuels such as E25-40 back from being certified and registered by EPA.
- Thank Perdue for USDA’s January report indicating corn ethanol greenhouse gas emissions are already 43 percent below gasoline emissions and ask him to help EPA understand the need to rely upon the latest science when determining the lifecycle GHG impact of corn ethanol.
- Ask the Secretary to prioritize ethanol and coproducts when negotiating and renegotiating trade agreements with other countries.
- Encourage Secretary Perdue to be a vocal advocate for renewable fuels in the Trump administration. While USDA doesn’t have jurisdiction over our priority issues, he can speak up as a persuasive national figure for the benefits of homegrown biofuels.
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ACE Testimony to EPA Advocates for a Technology-Neutral Approach When Finalizing Vehicle Emissions Standards