EPA approves sale of higher ethanol fuel to try to lower gas prices

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it would temporarily allow widespread sales of a higher ethanol gas blend in a move that they hope will tamp down since the Iran war began.

The sale of E15 is typically discontinued in the summer because it can contribute to harmful air pollution.

“President Trump is unleashing American Energy Dominance, and today’s action will directly lower prices at the pump and gives a clear demand signal to our domestic biofuels producers," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

The summer waiver for E15 , and both Republicans and Democrats have called for it to become year-round and permanent to lower prices at the pump. In some states it's already allowed.

In Kansas, Republican Rep. Sharice Davids has requested and been granted emergency waivers for E15 for several years, from EPA administrations under presidents of both parties. This week U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, urged the Trump administration to take “a no-cost, immediate step” to curb rising domestic fuel costs amid the Iran war.

But not all experts are convinced the move will substantially lower gas prices. E15 isn't available in all states and some places don't have the necessary infrastructure or enough of a supply of ethanol to ramp up use, said Kenneth Gillingham, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment who studies the impacts of transportation regulations on prices, emissions and consumer welfare.

Gillingham also said the higher levels of corrosive ethanol in E15 can be a risk especially to older cars, boats and all-terrain vehicles.

More corn used for ethanol also means less can be used for animal feed, said Jason Hill, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies food, energy markets and environmental consequences. That means consumers could be trading lower costs at the pump for higher costs at the grocery store.

“I think it’s difficult to see when the ledger's settled, how this is a benefit for U.S. consumers,” Hill said.

Hill said he thought the announcement was hit hard by higher diesel prices used to run their equipment and by price hikes to fertilizer caused by the Iran war. He said similar announcements have been made before as a way to express support for “agriculture and those who drive.”

Gillingham also said the move comes at a cost beyond economics.

”There’s more likely to be ozone issues in the summer and some people will die," he said. “It will lead to some earlier heart attacks and it will lead to some earlier respiratory issues that wouldn’t have been the case otherwise.”

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