Commissioner Uible’s recent letter “Fixing the RFS Pothole” was full of myth and inaccuracies regarding the ethanol industry and the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Uible claims ethanol is raising the price of corn for his livestock. If this was the case, why are corn prices in 2016 lower by nearly 60 percent compared to 2012, at the same time ethanol production is booming? Also, one of the by-products of ethanol is a highly nutritious feed product called distiller’s grains. Ohio ranchers and cattlemen like Uible purchase this feed often.
It’s also ironic for Uible to reference the free market. In 2009, the ethanol industry asked the EPA for permission to sell higher blends of ethanol and give motorists a choice on which fuel they use. This move towards the free market was opposed by the beef industry, among others.
The truth is biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard have helped Ohio and the country. The industry employs more than 850,000 people nationwide and pumps millions of dollars into the Ohio economy each year. Our elected officials need to keep supporting us.
Rick Fox
President
Ohio Ethanol Producers Association