Ethanol waiver seen spiking gasoline $1/gallon
“The impact on gasoline prices, if you take 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol off the market today, if (Texas) Governor Perry gets his way, is significant,” said Bob Dineen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry group.
U.S. Congress passed a 2007 law requiring a production increase to 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol by 2015 and 36 billion gallons by 2022. Perry and others, citing rising food prices, have said those rules should be relaxed in order to inject more corn into the food supply for livestock and to encourage farmers to plant other crops.
An ethanol waiver would likely drive up gasoline prices to $4.71 per gallon, a level that would have a “devastating” impact on consumers and push food prices even higher, Dineen said.
Ethanol waiver seen spiking gasoline $1/gallon | Environment | Reuters