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The Renewable Fuels Association is publicizing an analysis conducted by economist Dr. Scott Richman justifying Federal support for an industry which clearly cannot function without mandates and preferential treatment. Viability is historically assured by bipartisan support provided by corn-state legislators on both sides of the aisles in the House and Senate. Ethanol has become a proverbial “third rail” in Midwest politics. Due to COVID travel restrictions and work-from-home, gasoline consumption has dropped by over 15 percent in 2020 resulting in claimed collective losses for the U.S. ethanol industry of $3.8 billion.  Between March and November, ethanol producers were forced to reduce production by two billion gallons.  Of concern to the ethanol industry is the current rising incidence and hospitalization rate for COVID-19 threatening the introduction of restrictions that will further depress gasoline and hence ethanol consumption.

Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association stated, “Our new analysis provides an in-depth look at how rural communities have suffered.  The decrease in ethanol production has idled or permanently closed plants across the heartland and caused job losses in rural communities where good employment is often hard to find.”  Cooper added, “As an industry deemed critical and essential to America, we call on Congress to act swiftly to provide some targeted relief to our nation’s renewable fuels industry.”

As a sweetener, the RFA claim that they have contributed to alleviating COVID by manufacturing hand sanitizer and capturing carbon dioxide to manufacture dry ice required for the Pfizer vaccine. This contention is really scraping the bottom of the figurative barrel.