WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) pushed President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominee to commit to year-round sales of E15 at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.
“Ethanol accomplishes three things: it saves drivers money, it is good for the environment, and it creates jobs here in America,” said Senator Ricketts. “Nebraska’s 24 ethanol plants provide 1,400 jobs and boost our state economy by $4.5 billion.”
Earlier today, Ricketts also commented on the EPA’s decision to grant a request he made as governor to allow the sale of E15 in the summer months starting in 2024.
During the hearing exchange with Joseph Goffman, Biden’s nominee to be the Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation of the EPA, Ricketts also touched on how the EPA’s Proposed Renewable Fuels Standard’s set rule does not reflect actual market conditions, citing statistics that show that EPA’s proposed biomass-based diesel requirements could drastically reduce future production. In a second round of questioning, Ricketts raised concerns that the rulemaking from the EPA had contributed to the closure of electricity production facilities, making rolling blackouts worse:
“Reliable electricity is essential to our way of life and our national security,” said Ricketts.
