TOPLINE: The renewable fuel standard (RFS) is a misguided government mandate that requires that your car’s gas contain a minimum amount of renewable fuels, mostly corn starch ethanol. This climate agenda driven policy raises the price of gas for Americans and adds to the ongoing affordability crisis.
Congress created the RFS in 2005, before the shale and fracking revolution fundamentally transformed America’s oil and gas industry. At the time, the US was a net importer of oil products. Today, the US is a net exporter of oil products and produces almost three times the oil we did when RFS started. Yet the RFS remains, locking in a policy framework designed for scarcity rather than abundance.
If unleashed through deregulation, the American private sector, especially the oil industry, could dramatically bring down fuel costs for Americans. Instead, the private sector is being held back by the RFS to benefit one industry at the expense of the American people. Congress should repeal the renewable fuel standard and stop telling Americans what they can put in their car’s gas tanks.