Former President Trump said Friday that he would cancel every Biden administration policy that he described as “brutalizing our farmers” within hours of taking office, if he is elected in 2024.
“Under Joe Biden, it has been a nonstop war on American agriculture. You know that better than anybody,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The former president slammed President Biden for slashing ethanol blending levels “by hundreds of millions of gallons” and trying to “totally kill Iowa ethanol and replace it with expensive electric cars.”
“Within hours of my inauguration, I will cancel every Biden policy that is brutalizing our farmers,” Trump said while in the Hawkeye State, the nation’s leading producer of ethanol.
In finalized biofuel blending standards released last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduced how much “conventional” biofuel, which includes corn-based ethanol, would be required for blending in 2024 and 2025 when compared to a previous proposal.
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However, the latest standards still represent an increase over previous years, including under the Trump administration.
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The EPA touted the finalized rule as featuring “steady growth” of the use of biofuels and increasing U.S. energy security by reducing oil imports by between 130,000 to 140,000 barrels of oil per day between 2023 and 2025.
Trump has previously touted his administration’s 2019 decision to lift summertime restrictions on the sale of gasoline blended with 15-percent ethanol. However, the decision was ultimately struck down by a federal appeals court in 2021.
The Biden administration is also planning to allow for the year-round sale of 15-percent ethanol blend in eight Midwestern states, including Iowa, starting next summer, according to Reuters.
