OPINION:
The free market will not move America forward because there is no free market present in the fueling sector (“Congress should red-line ’green’ gas rules of the EPA,” Web, June 1). The oil industry has a monopoly on the pump — and therefore you, the consumer.
The Renewable Fuel Standard is the only means to break this unreasonable status quo; it is everything the oil industry says it is not and succeeds where the oil industry says it fails. Since the program’s expansion in 2007, annual retail food inflation has tracked below the long-term historical average. Skeptics would be hard pressed to find any significant correlation between corn prices and retail food prices at all, really. Citibank futures specialist Sterling Smith recently noted that “[c]orn prices may have come down 50% (from their highs), but that doesn’t mean a box of corn flakes will fall 50% in price. Much of the price of food comes from the processing and movement of food “
Ethanol is revitalizing rural communities by providing opportunities for jobs — nearly 400,000 Americans are directly or indirectly affected by the industry. The economic stability provided by the RFS gives first-time investors the stable framework needed to explore opportunities within the cellulosic sector of the industry, thereby steadily bringing balance to a fuel market that, for decades, has been dominated by a single party and providing consumers the choice of a fuel that is cheaper today than wholesale gasoline.
The fact is the EPA missed an opportunity with its proposal to reduce RFS blending requirements. America cannot lead the world in the 21st century when our economy is stuck with 20th century fueling options. The RFS works, but only when the agency upholds the statutorily required blending levels. Anything less is a win for Big Oil, and Big Oil alone.
BOB DINNEEN
President & CEO
Renewable Fuels Association
Washington
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