Toomey vows to fight ethanol mandate in next Congress

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Friday vowed to fight against ethanol mandates during the next Congress after the Environmental Protection Agency refused to waive the regulations.

“I'm disappointed that the EPA chose to disregard the impact this growing mandate will have on Americans' food costs by denying the waiver request I supported,” Toomey said in a statement Friday. “It's time for Congress to put an end to ethanol mandates, and I look forward to working on this during the 113th Congress.”

The fuel standard requires refiners to blend roughly 13 billion gallons of ethanol into gasoline.

Several states requested waivers from the EPA’s federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), citing "severe economic harm." Opponents of the fuel standard argued that drought-driven spikes in corn prices this year should prompt the agency to relax the requirements.

Toomey said the ethanol mandate hurts his constituents and the economy.

“Ethanol mandates disproportionately hurt states like Pennsylvania,” Toomey said. “From our dairy and chicken farms to our refineries, this ill-advised policy hurts all Americans every day, costing consumers more at the grocery store and damaging our economy.”

The EPA said it couldn’t find evidence to support the argument that the fuel requirement would harm the economy.

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