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Advancing American Freedom Foundation is a nonprofit institution that promotes and defends policies that elevate traditional American values,
PLYMOUTH INSTITUTE FOR FREE ENTERPRISE G ET G OVERNMENT G RAIN OUT OF Y OUR T AILPIPE
Richard Stern, Vice President Austin Gae, Policy Analyst JANUARY 27, 2026
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.
BACKGROUND: 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. WHAT THE RFS DOES:
• RFS requires transportation fuels like gasoline to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels, mainly corn starch ethanol along with advanced biofuels. • EPA enforces compliance through a tradable credit system. WHY REPEAL RFS?
• RFS increases the cost of gas and makes the current affordability crisis worse. • From 2014-2023, “Americans spent $28 billion more on ethanol than the same amount of energy from gasoline would have cost” according to R Street. • RFS increases the price of gas by ~30 cents a gallon.
o CONTEXT: The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents. • 40% of American-grown corn is fed through the ethanol industry before some of it is then turned into co-products, such as feed for livestock. This redirects the industry and artificially increases costs and diverts some corn away from being used in the food supply.
o READ MORE: WSJ: The Ethanol Gasoline Tax
BOTTOMLINE: 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.