During and following the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) massive public forum on its plan to lower ethanol requirements, several prominent politicians have stood up to criticize the organization's decision. The group of politicians, which includes Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, say that the EPA's claims that the current standards can't be met are false, and that it's a move influenced by big oil companies pushing to increase their profit margins.
Testifying at the June 25 panel, Governor Branstad bluntly said that "The EPA has a choice: Protect the deep pockets of Big Oil and their monopolistic practices or nurture consumer choice, renewable energy growth and a healthy rural economy." Iowa is the nation's top supplier of corn and ethanol, and Branstad believes that it's possible to meet the government's preset standards.
Branstad added that the price of corn has almost halved in the past two years, making now as good a time as ever to plunge into ethanol development. He also argued that the EPA's indecision on the matter has prevented the ethanol and biofuels industry from growing as much as it could have.
Adding to Branstad's arguments, Governor Nixon of Missouri reminded the committee of the role adopting biofuels has had in weaning America off of foreign oil, and warned that a reduction in this policy would allow foreign companies to dictate how much Americans pay at the pump.
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