EPA Relents on Ethanol Mandate With Overdue Renewables Quota
Farmer Mike Vis holds a handful of corn on his farm in Valley Springs, South Dakota, U.S., on Tuesday, July 8, 2008.
Photographer: Aaron Packard/Bloomberg NewsThis article is for subscribers only.
The Obama administration proposed cutting quotas for the use of renewable fuels, lowering the mandate for corn ethanol set by law.
The plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a retreat from aggressive goals set by Congress almost a decade ago to promote American-grown alternatives to fossil fuels from hostile nations. The program is backed by corn growers who sell almost a third of their crop to fuel producers, and opposed by the oil industry, anti-hunger groups and small-engine users.