WASHINGTON, D.C. — DuPont executives released a letter on Oct. 14 to Sen. Pat Toomey (D-Vt.) stating their opposition to his legislative attempts to under-mine the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
The letter is printed below:
Dear Sen. Toomey
As Pennsylvania residents, registered voters and DuPont biofuels employees that support science driven innovation to solve some of the world’s most serious challenges, we absolutely oppose your efforts to repeal the corn ethanol mandate in the RFS and any other legislative initiatives to repeal or modify the RFS.
Proposals to modify the RFS will un-dercut the existing U.S. biofuels industry, preventing all new opportunities for investments in cellulosic ethanol and advanced biofuels.
These new technologies are not dependent on additional sources of food-based feedstocks and will significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the U.S. transportation sector.
DuPont’s biofuels interests span the entire supply chain from our Pioneer corn seed business, crop protection offerings, and enzymes supplied to first generation corn ethanol and second generation cellulosic ethanol.
DuPont will also celebrate the opening of our 30 million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa in late October 2015. We also have the DuPont/BP joint venture, Butamax which is developing biobutanol, an advanced biofuel that can be distributed via the existing gasoline infrastructure, including pipelines.
The existing biofuels industry has had a significant impact on an improved agriculture economy and ethanol is less expensive than gasoline, reducing gas prices. In Pennsylvania alone, the renewable fuels sector generates $3.6B of total economic output, supports 17,714 direct and indirect jobs and generates $917 million in wages annually, contributing $121.3 million in Federal taxes and $84.5 million in state taxes each year. Nationwide, the biofuels industry supports $184.5B of economic output, 852,056 direct and indirect jobs, $46.2B in wages and $14.5B in taxes.
Repealing the corn ethanol portion of the RFS would have significantly negative economic impacts for Pennsylvania and the U.S. and prevent additional growth in biofuels. Cellulosic ethanol is a brand new fuel derived from non-food feedstocks like corn stover and switchgrass. DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90 percent versus gasoline and holds tremendous promise for reducing the environmental footprint for U.S. transportation fuels. To realize these benefits, rather than gift these investments to China and Brazil, businesses and investors need stable and predictable policies.
We implore you to reconsider your stance on the RFS and work with us to create the right incentives for the biofuels industry to move beyond current technologies. New investments will create jobs, reduce impacts to the environment, and reduce our reliance on foreign oil that will inevitably impact our economy and national security.
