EPA approves sale of higher-ethanol fuel in bid to lower gas prices | Trump administration

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it would temporarily allow large-scale sales of a gas blend with a higher ethanol content, hoping to curb consumer prices that have soared since the start of the Iran war.

The high-ethanol blend has been banned in hot weather due to concerns it could worsen smog.

“President Trump is unleashing America’s energy dominance, and today’s action will directly lower prices at the pump and provide a clear signal of demand to our domestic biofuel producers,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

The summer waiver for E15 has become commonplace in recent years, and both Republicans and Democrats have called for it to become permanent and permanent in order to lower prices at the pump. It’s already allowed in some states: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin and most of South Dakota, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group. The association said it’s also legal in cities that require reformulated gasoline or gasoline blended in an effort to burn cleaner.

In Kansas, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids has sought and received emergency waivers for E15 for several years, from EPA administrations under presidents of both parties. This week, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, urged the Trump administration to take “immediate, no-cost action” to curb rising domestic fuel prices amid the war in Iran.

But not everyone is convinced that this decision will lead to a substantial drop in gas prices. E15 is not available in all states, and some places do not have the necessary infrastructure or sufficient supply of ethanol to increase its use, said Kenneth Gillingham, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment who studies the impacts of transportation regulations on prices, emissions and consumer welfare.

Gillingham also said the higher levels of corrosive ethanol in E15 can pose a risk, especially to older cars, boats and off-road vehicles.

More corn used for ethanol production also means less corn can be used for animal feed, said Jason Hill, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies food, energy markets and environmental consequences. That means consumers could trade lower prices at the pump for higher prices at the grocery store.

“I think it’s hard to see, once the scores are settled, how this is a benefit to American consumers,” Hill said.

Hill said he thought the announcement was aimed more at farmers hit hard by rising prices for the diesel they use to run their equipment and rising fertilizer prices caused by the war in Iran. He said similar announcements had already been made to express support for “agriculture and those who drive.”

Gillingham also said the move would have a cost that went beyond the economy.

“There are more likely to be ozone problems in the summer and some people will die,” he said. “This will lead to earlier heart attacks and earlier breathing problems that would not otherwise have been the case.”

The oil industry has generally opposed the expansion of E15, arguing that blending biofuels is expensive and drives up gasoline prices. But a vice president of the American Petroleum Institute wrote a statement in support of the move. “By temporarily easing summer fuel requirements, this measure helps ensure that American consumers continue to have access to reliable, affordable energy,” said Will Hupman.