Donald Trump Shamefully Panders on Ethanol to Iowa Special Interests

*Simply put, the RFS is a case study in bad policy. It’s a Soviet-style exercise in economic planning, a government mandate to purchase a specific private product, and a direct giveaway to wealthy farming interests across the country. It’s as out-of-place in a free America as Donald Trump is in a GOP primary.*

Statement by American Encore Policy Director Patrick Hedger on Donald Trump's endorsement of a higher ethanol mandate:

"The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a program broken beyond repair. The laws that created it amount to Soviet-style economic central planning. The RFS forces increasing amounts of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into a fuel supply that simply cannot sustain it. It’s a government mandate, no different than Obamacare. The RFS puts upward pressure on gasoline prices while simultaneously poisoning the nation’s gasoline supply with fuels incompatible with most engines. This all goes without mentioning the increased greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol production and the higher food prices it causes.

Now Donald Trump is calling for the RFS ethanol requirements to be increased in what is nothing more than a shameless ploy to bribe votes out of government-subsidized Iowa corn farmers. So much for Mr. Trump not being controlled by 'special interests.'

Simply put, the RFS is a case study in bad policy. It’s a Soviet-style exercise in economic planning, a government mandate to purchase a specific private product, and a direct giveaway to wealthy farming interests across the country. It’s as out-of-place in a free America as Donald Trump is in a GOP primary."  

To read more about why the RFS is a bad program in need of repeal, please read here.

*For press inquiries, please contact Lisa De Pasquale. [email protected]*