P. Scott Shearer, Vice President

August 13, 2012

1 Min Read
Senators Ask for RFS Waiver

A bipartisan group of 26 senators have written Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson urging her to use her existing waiver authority to adjust the corn-ethanol mandate for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) as a result of the drought and increasing corn prices.  The senators wrote, “As stressful weather conditions continue to push corn yields lower and prices upward, the economic ramifications for consumers, livestock and poultry producers, food manufacturers and foodservice providers will become more severe.  In fact, USDA recently announced that the drought gripping half the country will help push food prices above normal food price inflation to 3-4% next year.  We ask you to adjust the corn grain-ethanol mandate of the RFS to reflect this natural disaster and these new market conditions. Doing so will help to ease supply concerns and provide relief from high corn prices.”  The letter was organized by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).   A similar letter signed by over 150 congressmen was sent last week.

 

About the Author(s)

P. Scott Shearer

Vice President, Bockorny Group, Inc.

Scott Shearer is vice president of the Bockorny Group Inc., a leading bipartisan government affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C. With more than 30 years experience in government and corporate relations in state and national arenas, he is recognized as a leader in agricultural trade issues, having served as co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for U.S.-China Trade and co-chairman of the Agricultural Coalition for Trade Promotion Authority. Scott was instrumental in the passage of China Permanent Normal Trade Relations and TPA. He is past chairman of the USDA-USTR Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Animals and Animal Products and was a member of the USAID Food Security Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the Bockorny Group, Scott served as director of national relations for Farmland Industries Inc., as well as USDA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs (1993-96), serving as liaison for the Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA to Congress.

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