From March 14, 2022 post.
As gas prices hit all-time record highs , U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling on President Biden to unleash Iowa biofuel immediately and to support her bipartisan plan to replace banned Russian oil with clean, American-made renewable fuels that are available right now.
Ernst teamed up with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on new bipartisan legislation—the Home Front Energy Independence Act —that puts into law a ban on Russian oil and couples that with opening up the use and production of biofuel that’s grown in the American heartland.
KIMT-3, KTIV-4, KGAN-2, and KCRG-9 all covered Ernst’s new legislation. KTIV-4 reported: “As gas prices hit all-time record highs, U.S. Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa have now called on President Joe Biden to replace banned Russian oil with renewable fuels.”
Ernst’s efforts were covered by Radio Iowa, who reported: “Senator Joni Ernst says President Biden’s announcement Tuesday to ban Russian oil imports didn’t take advantage of the domestic fuel option, but instead Biden lauded the use of electric vehicles, a policy Ernst calls ‘reckless.’ ‘Energy security is national security,’ Ernst says.”
The Des Moines Register wrote: “Ernst said the country's excess ethanol capacity is about the same as the amount of Russian gas the U.S. has been importing. ‘We can do this immediately with biofuels and using biofuels to replace what we are importing from Russia,’ she said. ‘It’s roughly about the same amount. And we do have those biofuel producers that really ramped down during COVID and they are just waiting to ramp back up.’”
KWWL-7 reported on Ernst’s new bill: “Iowa senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are pushing a new bill that they say would put the ban on Russian oil in law and encourage the use biofuels. The bill, titled The Homefront Energy Independence Act would both put a ban in place on imports of Russian petroleum and petroleum product but also incentivize the production and use of more biofuel like ethanol. […] It incentivizes US ethanol producers through tax credits for the sale E-15 grade gas and biodiesel. Then encourages more production through tax incentives for producers.”
Iowa Public Radio covered Ernst’s new bipartisan legislation, reporting: “President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on Russian oil imports. Iowa’s two Republican U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst want him to take it a step further. They’ve announced legislation to put the ban into law and use biofuels – like gasoline with 15 percent ethanol – in Russian oil’s place. ‘Gas prices just hit all-time record highs for Americans across the country,’ said Ernst on a Wednesday news conference with Grassley. ‘It has never been clearer that energy security is national security. Banning Russian oil was long overdue.’”
Ernst’s new effort was covered by the Cedar Rapids Gazette, who reported: “Iowa’s two U.S. senators are calling on the Biden administration and Congress to quickly replace Russian oil with ‘clean, American-made renewable fuels’ like Iowa biofuels. Biofuels can fill the demand and lower the cost to motorists because ‘the cost of ethanol is much less expensive as biodiesel than just straight-up petroleum products,’ Sen. Joni Ernst told reporters Wednesday. ‘That will make an immediate impact to the cost of fuel across the United States.’”
The Progressive Farmer reported on Ernst’s new effort, writing: “As the Biden administration banned Russian oil and gas imports into the United States, Iowa Republic Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst introduced legislation to replace the lost imports with biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel. The Homefront Energy Independence Act would permanently ban Russian oil and gas imports, expand the use of E15 by making it available year-round and direct the EPA to finalize an E15 pump label, expand needed infrastructure, as well as provide tax credits to promote the sale of E15 and biodiesel.”
Iowa AgriBusiness Radio Network covered Ernst’s legislation, reporting: “As the country deals with record-high gas prices, Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are calling for increased biofuels support. In a joint press conference on Wednesday, Ernst and Grassley said they are cosponsoring the Homefront Energy Independence Act. Senator Ernst says the legislation would institute a permanent ban on Russian oil imports, replacing it with increased biofuels production.”
Original source can be found here
