Trump Stumps for E15

This week, the ethanol industry got a boost from President Trump when he was deep in the heart of corn country.

President Donald Trump: “In the campaign, I promised to support E-15 all year round…I want to be there in person, the people of Iowa, I am trusting speaker Mike Johnston, who’s great, and Leader John Thune, who’s great, that's House and Senate -- to find a deal that works, we've got it, for farmers, consumers and refiners, including small and midsize refiners. In other words, to get E15 approved and they're working on it. They're very close to getting it done. So I just wanted to let you know.”

It was the latest attempt in the effort to get approval for year-round use of E15 in the nation’s gasoline supply. 

Marketed as unleaded 88, the fuel is a combination of 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol. EPA rules effectively block the higher blending rate in most states during the summer months.  While emergency waivers have been used to sell the biofuel mix, there are eight midwestern states that do or will allow year-round sales of the blend.

Last week, a bi-partisan Congressional deal that looked like it might have cemented year-round use of the largely corn-based fuel additive was dropped at the 11th hour from the latest stop-gap spending bill. Ethanol and corn producers along with commodity groups were shocked and outraged. The move effectively took away another marketing tool from corn farmers who have been already facing low prices and reduced exports.  Domestic ethanol production used nearly one-third of the 2025 corn crop. 

Monte Shaw, Executive Director, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association: “... been working on this issue for 10 years. And, you know, the old Peanuts gag where, you know, Lucy's holding the football and up runs Charlie Brown, at the last second, she pulls it out and he goes flying and lands flat on his back. That has happened to us so many times over the last ten years.” 

In exchange for being dropped from the bill an ethanol task force was created to study the efficacy of E15. 

The deal that Shaw hopes will make it out of the study committee is the same as the one previously hammered out between big oil, ethanol and corn lobbying groups. 

The agreement gives a year-round waiver to E15 in exchange for changes to the small refinery blending exemption, commonly referred to as an SRE. If adopted, blending exemptions would only be given to small refiners and not to big oil refining companies that own small operations. Also, there would be no passing of the blending obligations on to other oil producers.

Monte Shaw, Executive Director, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association: “...there are some in the oil industry that are like, well, if we allow year round E15, we're going to lose 5% of the tank. So they're not idiots. … So this is, this has just been a power play by some in the oil industry to protect their market.”

The study committee has until the end of February to produce a report on whether or not to proceed with a waiver for E15 and a change to the SRE language.

For Market to Market, I’m David Miller.