BLOOMINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to cut corn-based ethanol standards will hurt Illinois farmers, an industry leader said.
Ken Hartman of Bloomington, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, was among about 300 people who rallied Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to call for an increase in Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes for corn-based ethanol, which faces cuts by the federal agency.
About 40 farmers from Central Illinois also attended, Hartman said.
"We are frustrated and we are hitting the Hill, talking about how important ethanol is to Illinois farmers," he said. "Our potential corn crop isn't looking as good as it was a few months ago, but we are still going to have corn to move and it is unfair of the EPA to lower what was legislated."
The EPA proposed cutting corn-based ethanol from the original Clean Air Act standards through 2016. A final decision is expected Nov. 30.
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The RFS — passed into law in 2007 — calls for the use of increasing amounts of ethanol each year. In May, the EPA released the proposed volume obligations for 2015 and 2016.
The proposed standards decrease volume levels to 13.4 billion gallons for 2015 and 14 billion gallons for 2016. Congress scheduled at least 16.3 billion gallons for 2015 and 17.4 billion gallons for 2016.
In 2014, the U.S. used 15.9 billion gallons in 2014, some 1.7 billion gallons less than legislated.
If approved, the effects would be felt by Central Illinois farmers, said Steve Kelly, general manager of One Earth Energy, an ethanol plant in Gibson City.
"If you cut corn demand by 1.5 billion bushels in Central Illinois, then you will lose a good portion of your demand," he said. "That is about 11 percent of the corn crop that doesn't need to be grown and the less of a need there is for a good, renewable source of fuel."
The plant employs 49 people, a number that has remained steady for a lengthy period, Kelly said.
Other agriculture leaders are asking officials to step in before the EPA's decision in November.
"While the EPA proposes to gradually increase the amount of biofuels blended in the nation’s motor fuel supply, the Illinois Farm Bureau takes issue with the EPA’s use of the term ‘ambitious’ to describe overall volumes for this year and next that fall well short of the goals Congress originally set for the RFS program," said Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr.
"For an administration that likes to talk a big game about the need to reduce greenhouse gases, EPA continues to act timidly in the face of an oil industry that would prefer not to blend a single drop of biofuels," he said. "We will work with other interested parties to urge EPA to set far more ambitious targets that will encourage continued investment and real growth in biofuels production and use."
Follow Kevin Barlow on Twitter: @pg_barlow.
