Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says President Obama is absolutely correct to champion the economic benefits of the Agricultural Act of 2014 on rural America. He says creating jobs and economic opportunity is challenging in rural communities – which is why the President has long supported and appreciated the value of the American biofuels industry. Under the RFS – Dinneen says the U.S. ethanol industry created and supported more than 386-thousand jobs in the past year. Dinneen adds that the economic benefits of the RFS aren’t limited to rural communities. He says the RFS is helping Americans coast-to-coast, border-to-border save money by reducing the price of gasoline by an average of a dollar per gallon in 2012 and 2013.
With imports of foreign gasoline dropping – Dinneen says the RFS is also helping the nation become more secure at the economic and national security levels. To build on the success of the farm bill – Dinneen says RFA calls on President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to protect the RFS and restore the 2014 conventional ethanol requirement to its statutory level. If the EPA’s proposal to decrease the conventional ethanol portion of the RFS becomes a reality – Dinneen says rural America will be hit the hardest. He says farm income will fall, corn prices will sink and land value will fall. Like the farm bill – he says this may be a long, hard fight – but RFS will continue fighting for American farmers, consumers and rural communities.
Source: NAFB News Serivce