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14 Sept 20-President Donald Trump on Saturday offered a boost to the ethanol industry as he courts farmers and biofuel producers in Midwestern swing states before the November election.Trump has approved using existing filling station pumps to distribute higher-ethanol gasoline.
“Subject only to State approval, our important Ethanol Industry will be allowed to use the 10% Pumps for the 15% BLEND,” Trump tweeted.The administration’s announcement followed a conversation Trump had with Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who’s been pushing for the change as she seeks re-election. Ernst, in her own tweet, welcomed the news.
But some rural voters groups remained wary of what they argue historically has been Trump’s backing of the oil industry CL00, +0.16% at the expense of promoting alternative fuels and said the decision from the president had been a long time coming.
“The announcement made today is little more than an election-year gambit,” said Chris Gibbs, the board president of Ohio-based policy group Rural America 2020.“You can’t sell out to Big Oil for the first 3 1/2 years of your presidency and then expect farmers to believe you with 52 days to the election,” Gibbs said. “You can’t undo 4 billion lost gallons of biofuel with last minute election games.”
The Trump administration’s EPA in 2019 approved the sale of a 15% ethanol-gasoline blend known as E15 year-round. It previously had been blocked for sale in the summer in many areas where smog is an issue. Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is a 10% blend known as E10.