Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
A U.S. Representative from Iowa says permanent, nationwide year-round E15 would provide greater market certainty for corn growers and biofuel producers.
Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks says getting an E15 bill passed out of the US House earlier this year was a long time coming.
“If 11 years in a row we have had a waiver from the EPA, it’s telling you that there’s a regulation that does not need to be in place.”
The legislation has since stalled in the US Senate, and Miller-Meeks tells Brownfield, “We’re hoping the Senate side wakes up and does their job and gets it passed. We’ve certainly had those conversations with them. It is critically important.”
She says corn growers need stronger domestic demand for their crop.
“We need more carbon-based fuels, we need more liquid fuels,” she said. “It just helps to enhance what we’re doing, what the oil and gas industry is doing, and keeping prices down.”
Miller-Meeks says she disagrees with critics who argue that E15 can clog engines and drive up fuel costs.
She spoke to Brownfield at a farmer roundtable event at I-80 Farms near Colfax, Iowa on July 24th.
