Dec. 10, 2013

Dear Congress:

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with implementing and administering the Renewable Fuel Standard, released its proposal for the amount of biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supply in 2014. As you may know, the bulk of the RFS mandate is filled by corn ethanol, which now consumes approximately 40 percent of the corn produced in the United States annually. Although the EPA is proposing a minor reduction in the overall volume of biofuels required by the mandate, thus deviating slightly from the RFS statute, this reduction will do little to reduce ethanol’s share of the annual corn crop and virtually nothing to alleviate the broad economic and environmental damage currently caused by using corn for fuel.

In short, the EPA’s proposal is a small step in the right direction, but is clearly insufficient to effectively address this harmful federal policy. Only Congress can solve this problem. We urge you to act now to eliminate the corn ethanol mandate in the RFS.

There are several bills that have been introduced in both Houses of Congress to achieve this result, and more are on the way. Please support one or more of these bills, today.

Sincerely,

ActionAid USA
American Bakers Association
American Frozen Food Institute
American Meat Institute
Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees
California Dairy Campaign
California League of Food Processors
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Dairy Producers of New Mexico
Dairy Producers of Utah
Environmental Working Group
Freedom Action
Friends of the Earth
Idaho Dairymen’s Association
International Dairy Foods Association
International Foodservice Distributors Association
Marine Retailers Association of the Americas
Milk Producers Council
National Chicken Council
National Council of Chain Restaurants
National Frozen Pizza Institute
National Franchisee Association
National Grocers Association
National Marine Manufacturers Association
National Restaurant Association
National Taxpayers Union
National Turkey Federation
Nevada State Dairy Commission
North American Meat Association
Northwest Dairy Association/Darigold
Oregon Dairy Farmers Association
Oxfam America
R Street Institute
Southeast Milk, Inc.
Snack Food Association
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Washington State Dairy Federation
Western United Dairymen

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