By Jim Johnson, Cannon Falls Beacon — Dec 21, 2021
A roundtable discussion at a farm in Cannon Falls last Friday drew the district’s Congressional representative and a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary.
The roundtable focused on biofuels and the message was clear: Electric vehicles are sexy but widespread use is still in the future. Biofuels are here today and can begin making a difference in the environment right away.
“E15 and higher blend biofuels expand markets for family farmers, support economic growth in rural America and cut down on dangerous pollutants released into the air we breathe,’ Congressional Rep Angie Craig said after the roundtable. “The benefits to rural communities are clear and irrefutable.”
About 20 people attended the event, held at the farm of Rob Tate on County 24 Boulevard south of Cannon Falls.
The roundtable was set in a machine shed with farm equipment as the backdrop. A banner proclaimed “Together, America Prospers.”
Seated to the right of Craig was Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small.
Last week, USDA announced $800 million in funding to expand biofuels infrastructure, provide economic relief to biofuel producers and restore renewable fuel markets affected by the pandemic. That funding to grow the biofuels industry was made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
Farm group representatives lobbied for increasing use of biofuels across the country.
“This district is 60% covered with corn and soybeans,” said Craig, who was noted as a cheerleader for biofuels by Carolyn Olson, Minnesota Farm Bureau vice president and a roundtable participant.
“That’s why advocating for biofuels has been such an important priority for me in Congress,” Craig said. “And it’s why there is so much bipartisan support for biofuels both in Washington and in communities across Minnesota.”
Craig pushed for year-round sales of E-15. A federal court last summer a federal court struck down a rule allowing year-round E-15 sales nationwide. Governors want to authorize E15 sales within their states’ borders all year long under the EPA rule enacted under the Trump administration.
According to the Associated Press, three judges on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued the decision in July. The judges said it’s clear from federal law that Congress balanced “wide-ranging economic, energy-security, and geopolitical implications” and that the wording of the law “reflects a compromise, not simply a desire to maximize ethanol production at all costs.”
The judges concluded Congress did not intend to allow ethanol blends higher than 10% to be widely sold year-round. They said the EPA overstepped its authority in allowing year-round sales.
Those around the table at Friday’s event clearly thought the nation – and Midwest farmers and ethanol producers – would benefit from year-round sales.
Torres Small, the USDA undersecretary, said, “Ethanol matters because it is available now.”
The event at Tate’s farm concluded with a demonstration of a grain truck being loaded to be hauled to an ethanol plant.
Craig and Torres Small perched on a platform on the side of the grain bin to watch the truck being loaded.
“This is just the beginning of a conversation and a relationship,” Craig said.