Spencer, IA: (Aug 02, 2012) - The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is praising a group of lawmakers are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive the federal mandate for the production of corn ethanol.
 
One hundred and fifty-six members of the House on Thursday asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to waive the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) for the rest of the year to “help ease corn supply concerns.”
 
The request by lawmakers follows a filing on Monday by a coalition of livestock and poultry organizations, including the NPPC, of a petition asking EPA to waive the RFS for the balance of this year and for part of 2013.
 
NPPC President-Elect Randy Spronk, from Edgerton, Minnesota, thanked the lawmakers, saying they “recognize that the expected low crop yields we’ll have because of the severe drought coupled with pressures on corn usage from federal energy policy will devastate livestock and poultry producers.”
 
About 4.8 billion bushels of corn will be used this year to produce the ethanol required under the Renewable Fuels Standard.