Reflections on Birth of Renewable Fuel Standard Offer Direction for Advocates
By Lesly McNitt
Twenty years ago this month, the president signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005 establishing the Renewable Fuel Standard, a development that reshaped the rural economy and provided immeasurable benefits to people across the country.
The standard, which required fuel sold in the United States to contain renewable fuel blends (like ethanol) capped at 10%, was a boon to rural economies, a tool for policymakers and regulators seeking to lower greenhouse gas emissions and a diversification strategy to those concerned about U.S. energy security.
The law’s enactment established the corn grower community as a political powerhouse. As Jon Doggett, the vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association at the time, recently noted, corn growers were united and motivated at the time and as a result caught the attention of Congress like never before.
I would eventually work for Jon when I first came to NCGA in 2017. By then, corn was a mover and shaker on every level politically, and the 10% cap on ethanol had long since been removed.
NCGA’s power comes from the knowledge, among politicians and farmers, that our growers can come together and mobilize quickly to make transformational change.
This is still a reality today, and the history of the Renewable Fuel Standard should serve as inspiration and a reminder of what is possible as we continue to work to shape public policy and regulations.
The effort to get this law passed also reminds us that advocacy can come with initial losses and setbacks. The bill was first introduced several years before 2005 and failed to advance. A promising effort in 2004, when the bill was close to passage, went down in flames, but growers redoubled their efforts to get the bill passed.
The lessons from the advocacy work have guided our efforts over the years, and we have had many other notable success stories since 2005. Wins continue to come in. As an organization, for example, NCGA recently pushed back successfully on Mexico’s effort to ban certain forms of genetically modified corn and accomplished a long-term policy objective, doubling investment in USDA’s MAP and FMD trade promotion programs in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
As corn farmers continue to face challenges and opportunities alike, NCGA’s policy team is laser focused on developing new markets for the massive corn crop projected for this fall’s harvest. We hear the anxiety about corn prices that are way too low and input prices that are way too high. To that end, we have doubled down on our calls for policy action that increases ethanol sales and opens high-value export markets.
Congress has come close to passing legislation that would extend year-round consumer access to 15% ethanol fuel blends, or E15, only to come up short as we did last December when language from the bill was removed from a continuing resolution. The shortcoming provided echoes of the fight for the RFS. Just like NCGA did twenty years ago, we are calling on our members to redouble their efforts to get this legislation across the finish line this year.
This advocacy work comes during an increasingly polarized time for agricultural policy and all policy for that matter. But history tells us that, with farmer unity and perseverance, we can prevail once again.
While we celebrate RFS’s 20th birthday this month, we acknowledge that its gifts keep on giving, and we continue to lay the groundwork for the next era of growth for ethanol demand.
McNitt is vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association.
