AMI Files Comments in Support of Renewable Fuels Standard Waiver
Says Corn Ethanol Mandate Causing Substantial Losses Nationwide
Monday, June 23, 2008
The American Meat Institute
(AMI) today submitted comments supporting the
petition for a waiver of a portion of the
Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that the State
of Texas filed with the U.S. Environment
Protection Agency (EPA) on April 25,
2008.
“We are submitting these
comments in support of this petition because
the new, elevated ethanol mandates, enacted by
Congress in December 2007, are and will
continue to severely harm the economy of Texas,
our members, and the United States of America
if the EPA does not grant this waiver,” wrote
J. Patrick Boyle, President and CEO of the
American Meat
Institute.
“The rapid increase of this diversion of corn
severely impacted and will continue to harm our
member companies, their investments, employees,
and most immediate suppliers, producers of
livestock and poultry that are competing
against this government mandate,” added
Boyle.
Within its comments, AMI cites multiple reasons the waiver should be granted, including a number of economic harms caused by the corn-ethanol mandates which are already apparent, severe and imminent. Reasons include:
- Substantial losses to be incurred by meat, livestock and poultry producers in Texas and elsewhere as a result of significant, artificial increase in the prices of corn and other crops since 2005;
- Extreme weather and flooding have negatively impacted corn and feed growing regions;
- Undue hardships on U.S. households during
a time of financial stress;
- Feed and food-price inflation across many sectors;
- The severity of economic impact is greater than anticipated and is evident;
- Insignificant benefits relative to severe costs incurred;
- Inability to be flexible during a crop failure or flooding in remaining growing season;
- Foreseen price distortions that will continue to materialize;
- Adversely impacting investment and employment in food security;
- Stifling of the next generation of biofuels;
- The ‘Twenty in Ten’ goals are achievable with the waiver.
“Harm from the expanding mandate is already occurring and Congress authorized the Administrator to act immediately under the conditions we are seeing today. Accordingly, we respectfully request the Administrator to reduce the ethanol portion of the RFS mandate…This action is necessary to prevent further severe harm to the economy of the United States,” the comments conclude.
To view AMI’s comments in their entirety, visit http://www.meatami.com/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/38931. And for more information, go to http://www.foodbeforefuel.org/ and http://www.balancedfoodandfuel-old.org/.
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