On Friday, September 6, an opening brief was filed in Kentucky v. EPA. The case challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new regulations designed to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles in favor of electric vehicles. The IL Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and twelve other state corn grower associations joined a coalition of over fifty industry and labor groups to bring this case to the D.C. Circuit.
ICGA President and Victoria farmer Dave Rylander issued the following statement:
“ICGA remains focused on the sustainability of Illinois family farmers. Our goal is to build a farm economy that offers family farms the opportunity to remain profitable for generations. The EPA regulations exceed their authority as a government agency and jeopardize farm family profitability.
“The EPA’s regulations were written to force Americans into purchasing electric vehicles, while electric vehicles sit on car lots across our country because Americans are not interested in purchasing them. The EPA has a vision to reduce the environmental impact of the transportation industry, but they do not care what is lost in the process.
“The fact is that many options are available to clean up the air quality and reduce the carbon emissions from our transportation sector. One of those options is locally grown, renewable corn-based ethanol. The ethanol created from the corn I grow reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50 percent, yet it wasn’t considered in the rulemaking.
“The administration’s goal for 50 percent of new passenger cars and light duty trucks sold by 2030 to be electric will decimate corn demand and put the nation’s farm families and their generational family businesses at risk. There are also massive implications for America’s rural communities that have not been considered, despite reports from Midwestern university experts outlining dire consequences.”
The next step in this case is for the administration to submit a response brief. Then the court can determine if the EPA rule exceeds its statutory authority and if it constitutes an arbitrary and capricious exercise of power.
Read more about the background of this issue here. ICGA has worked with EPA for years to help them implement the GHG emissions reductions available using high octane, low carbon fuels like corn-based ethanol to no avail. The result of their refusal to consider ethanol as a potential solution resulted in the introduction of the Next Generation Fuels Act into Congress.
