By Noah Caplan, KTTC – March 31, 2022
KTTC) – Lowell Finseth is a farmer who sells about 3-quarters of his corn output to ethanol plants.
“When they can blend in the ethanol at a lower cost to the gasoline, that’s a win-win for all the consumers too, and it’s a cleaner product,” said Finseth, whose farm is located in Fountain, Minnesota.
To Finseth, selling his yields to ethanol plants is more convenient and efficient, and helps out Americans by lowering their fuel costs.
“It’s a win-win to go locally. It goes into ethanol but it also goes into feeds with our neighbors and the local livestock,” said Finseth. “There’s a little bit of pride knowing that your corn is going into something that can be used in this country.”
However, starting June 1st, Minnesotans will no longer be allowed to fill up with E-15, which is 15% ethanol. The decision is drawing ire from elected officials in the House and Senate.
“The national average for fuel will go up if we don’t act now,” said Congresswoman Angie Craig (DFL-MN).
“We have to do all kinds of different things when it comes to prices to bring costs down. And one of them, which is pretty obvious when you are in rural Minnesota, is having year-round E-15 as an option,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN).
E-15 sales will end June 1 due to a Federal Appeals Court ruling from July 2021. The court ruled the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its bounds when it lifted summertime restrictions for the sale of E-15.
“A court case, which had nothing based on the merits, it was a procedural decision, threw it out,” Klobuchar said.
Early March, Klobuchar was one of many senators signing a bipartisan petition calling for a year-long sale of E-15. This week, Congresswoman Angie Craig took similar measures in the House.
“We will save Minnesotans at the pump, and we will increase our energy independence,” said Craig.
In a letter to the president, cosigned by 29 other representatives, they signees called for swift action on keeping E-15 at the pumps after June 1st.
“That reduces costs for Minnesotans by anywhere from 30 to 40 to 50 cents at the gas pump per gallon,” said Craig.
Read full article here.