WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Ag groups and industry leaders are celebrating a major step forward for year-round E15 sales after the House passed legislation clearing the way for Senate debate.
Nebraska Congressman Adrian Smith joined us on Thursday’s Market Day Report to discuss the bill and what the next steps could look like moving forward.
Smith has spent the last decade advocating for nationwide year-round E15 sales. He says seeing the legislation pass the House was exciting, especially because of the bipartisan support behind it.
He adds the bill is not a mandate, but instead creates more options for retailers, processors and consumers while helping expand access to ethanol blends.
Smith says the timing also lines up well with broader discussions surrounding the farm bill.
“We’ve got the farm bill sent over to the Senate now as well. It would make perfect sense to put that together and really give us a win for energy independence. This is really about consumers and energy independence, and that producers across America can benefit as well. That’s just a great combination, especially for what we need these days in Ag America.”
In his conversation with RFD News, Smith says he does not have a preference on whether the measure advances independently or becomes attached to another bill.
“Either way we proved on the house side with such a strong bipartisan vote, you know, more than 90 Democrats, voting for this, more than 120 Republicans, and it’s rare that a bill can pass like that, and actually overcome some procedural hurdles that were put in the mix late in the process. So the fact that we were able to overcome those speaks well for the institution of the house.” Smith continued, “I don’t have a preference in terms of whether it joins another bill or the farm bill or on its own. A lot of folks said that this could never be done on its own in the house, and we got it done.”
Despite pushback from some groups within the oil industry, Smith says some refiners have reduced production levels to qualify for Small Refiner Exemptions, something he says was never the intended purpose of the program.
