Expansion of E15: A gift to the ethanol lobby and a consumer betrayal

Proponents of a fuel blend containing 15 percent ethanol year-round pitch its sales as a form of deregulation and consumer choice. In truth, “E15,” as it is known, is the ethanol lobby’s Trojan horse to expand one of the most costly and destructive federal mandates in U.S. history: the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Without reforms to the underlying rule, the E15 expansion entrenches a hidden gas tax, drives up food and fuel prices, slashes vehicle efficiency, threatens refining jobs, and undermines American energy dominance. Republicans who champion free markets and affordable energy must oppose it.

The Renewable Fuel Standard functions as a 30-cent hidden tax on every gallon of gasoline and diesel. Refiners are forced to buy tradeable compliance credits, the costs of which are passed straight to consumers at the pump. The Energy Policy Research Foundation estimates the Renewable Fuel Standard adds roughly 30 cents per gallon. Over the last decade, the mandate has cost Americans about $164 billion in higher fuel prices.

The absurdity is worse: The final mandated gallons of ethanol cost roughly $770 per gallon to force into the market. EPA’s own analysis projects an additional $6.7 billion in societal fuel costs.

This isn’t an energy policy — it’s a corporate bailout.

Year-round E15 isn’t about consumer choice; it is a government-mandated expansion by another name.........

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