The oil industry is pushing back against an Environmental Protection Agency requirement that would increase in the amount of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply.
The American Petroleum Institute released a poll Thursday showing more than three-quarters of people are concerned about the increased Renewable Fuel Standard for 2016. The renewable fuel standard is the amount of biofuel added to gasoline.
The EPA is set to require 17.4 billion gallons of biofuel be added to the nation’s gasoline supply in 2016, which would break the “blend wall,” or the amount of biofuel a car’s engine can handle without suffering damage. Based on Energy Information Administration estimates of dropping gasoline demand, the percentage of biofuels in gasoline — more than 10 percent — could damage vehicle engines.
According to the API poll, 78 percent of Americans are concerned about that decision.
“The public gets it. Regardless of their party affiliation, voters are concerned with mandates that try to force too much ethanol into our fuel supply,” said Bob Greco, the group’s downstream group director. “Our new energy realities have made the RFS obsolete. Americans aren’t consuming as much gasoline as Congress assumed they would when they wrote the legislation in 2007.”
Instead of requiring gasoline to contain a certain percentage of biofuel, the Renewable Fuel Standard requires a certain amount of biofuel to be added to gasoline every year. The standard would be increased to 36 billion gallons of biofuels added to the nation’s gasoline supply by 2022.
Greco said the petroleum institute is in favor of making the renewable fuel standard a percentage rather than a total amount.
“We would think 9.7 percent is where they should stay,” he said.
The poll, conducted by Harris Poll, showed 75 percent of those polled said they were worried about the fuel standard because car manufacturers warranties will not cover damage caused by breaching the blend wall.
In addition, 77 percent of those polled said they were concerned about the amount of corn grown to use as fuel instead of feeding the poor.
The EPA is expected to revise the 2014 and 2015 Renewable Fuel Standard down to reflect the reality of gasoline use, but the standard is set to increase again in 2016. The EPA has acknowledged the new standards would go past the blend wall.
The retroactive amount for 2014 would be 15.93 billion gallons of biofuel, which was the actual amount used. The standard for 2015 would be 16.3 billion gallons.
The standard has been the subject of much debate in the last month. Almost 200 lawmakers signed a letter to the EPA asking them to halt the increased standard for 2016, while some California lawmakers are asking the agency to ramp it up even more.
Television and radio ads have been running across the country trying to stir up public sentiment against the standard, including new ads released this week in California and Illinois.
The poll was done by telephone between Nov. 5 and Nov. 8 among 1,021 registered voters in the U.S. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.
