Sen Hagan Wants Changes in Ethanol Due to Drought

The drought in the Midwest is causing an decrease in corn production and an increase in corn prices.  U.S. Senators Kay Hagan (NC) and Saxby Chambliss (SC) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a letter this week that asks the EPA to use the agency’s existing waiver authority to adjust the corn-ethanol mandate for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).   In the letter Sen Hagan said,  “With record droughts across the United States causing corn supplies to shrink and prices to spike, an adjustment to the corn-ethanol mandate will provide relief from an emergency that is harming North Carolina's poultry and livestock producers and driving up food prices for consumers. ”  In other words, Sen Hagan and others are asking the EPA to lessen the use of ethanol mixed with gasoline due to the drought affecting corn crops in the US.  The North Carolina Poultry Federation and the NC Pork Council praised Senator Hagan for her efforts.   24 other Senators -- 12 Democrat and 12 Republican -- joined Hagan and Chambliss on the letter, including NC Senator Richard Burr (NC).