You wouldn’t expect to see Wyoming’s Republican Sen. John Barrasso siding with the left-wing climate group Earthjustice, but the two share a mission: Stopping Congress from passing legislation permitting the year-round sales of E15 ethanol.
The measure is headed to the Senate after a bitter battle in the House, where it passed by a vote of 218-203 on May 13.
The support was bipartisan, and so was the opposition.
The bill would codify into federal law the year-round sale of gasoline blended with 15% ethanol — a biofuel derived from corn that is typically sold in a 10% blend at nearly all gas stations.
For more than a decade, corn-producing states have vied for year-round E15 sales.
But they’ve been stymied in part by environmental groups who say the higher ethanol grade will increase smog and in Congress by a coalition of lawmakers from Wyoming, Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states dependent on the oil refinery business that would be negatively impacted by higher ethanol sales.
Mr. Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate whose job is to whip votes to pass legislation, does not support the House-passed ethanol bill.
Wyoming is home to several small refineries that employ thousands of people. The year-round availability of higher-grade ethanol would force the refineries to pay for expensive infrastructure upgrades or to purchase costly compliance credits.
“I oppose it because it hurts small refineries and all of the people around the country who work in these small refineries,” Mr. Barrasso said.
Environmental groups, no friends to the oil refining industry, have joined the fight against year-round E15 sales, warning that the higher-grade ethanol increases air pollution and will lead to the expansion of cropland.
The bill permanently lifts a summertime ban on E15 sales that has been in place for years because of concerns that the higher concentration of ethanol in gas tanks contributes to smog.
The increased availability of E15 gasoline would lead to more corn production, which may be great news for farmers but bad for the climate, environmental groups argue.
“Globally, converting land for corn ethanol production typically releases roughly twice the carbon saved from reduced gasoline tailpipe emissions over a 30-year period,” environmental advocates warned in a letter signed by Earthjustice Action, Sierra Club and other anti-fossil fuel groups.
The two opposing sides are hoping their joint opposition to year-round E15 sales will block the bill from making it through the Senate. So far, senators from oil-refining states are lining up against it.
The chamber’s chief fossil fuels opponent, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, is expected to join lawmakers from oil refining states in voting against the bill due to smog and other environmental concerns.
The measure divides both parties.
While Mr. Barrasso is adamantly opposed to the House-passed ethanol bill, Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, is determined to get it passed in the Senate.
Agriculture is South Dakota’s No. 1 industry, and corn production for ethanol is the leading crop.
He acknowledged the daunting opposition from his own Republican conference.
“It’s harder here,” Mr. Thune told The Washington Times. “But we’ll work on it.”
Advocates of year-round E15 sales have been able to advance the measure halfway through Congress, thanks to the recent spike in gasoline prices caused by the Iran war. Gas is now selling at an average of $4.52 per gallon.
The per-gallon price of E15 gasoline, often labeled Unleaded 88, is 10 to 40 cents less per gallon, said Rep. Zach Nunn, Iowa Republican.
“It’s not a mandate. It removes a regulatory barrier,” he said.
More than 3,500 gas stations in 31 states sell E15 gasoline, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. It’s meant for cars manufactured in 2001 or later and should not be used in boats, lawn mowers or other gasoline-powered equipment.
The measure won approval in the House with the help of lawmakers from farming districts that have been hit hard by retaliatory trade barriers and the Iran war, which has increased the cost of fertilizer.
In Minnesota, state corn growers have been lobbying for year-round E15 sales to ensure a “steady and predictable demand” for corn-based ethanol, Rep. Michelle Fishbach, Minnesota Republican, said.
If the measure clears Congress and is signed into law, it would boost the nation’s corn consumption by 2.4 billion bushels.
“Year-round E15 is a massive win for the American farmer,” Ms. Fishbach said.
Sen Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, has been working to pass year-round sales of E15 gasoline since the EPA approved the blend in 2011. He told The Times he believes the most viable pathway to passage is by attaching it to must-pass legislation, such as a spending bill or the annual farm bill.
The momentum to get it passed in Congress is finally on his side, Mr. Grassley said.
“This is our opportunity to get it done,” he said.
