News
House passes Lower Food and Fuels Cost Act
A bill that’s aimed at lowering food and fuel prices now heads to the Senate.
The U.S. House passed the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act on Thursday by a 221-204 vote. Troy Bredenkamp with the Renewable Fuels Association tells Brownfield the bill addresses soaring gas prices.
“To have a permanent solution for year-round E15 and higher blends, that is an important step forward,” Bredenkamp said. “We are happy with the way things turned out today.”
He says the bill authorizes $500 million in infrastructure grants for fuel retailers over five years.
“When you start to look at what needs to happen for us to get to a higher blend overall, it will take infrastructure,” Bredenkamp said. “Not as much as some other technologies, but certainly any help we can get to get that infrastructure in the ground is very important.”
The legislation also contains several provisions that seek to lower fertilizer costs in the field, lower meat and poultry prices by increasing market competition, add a special investigator, and strengthen the food supply chain.
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) supports the measure saying it permanently extends Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) limit relief to blends of gasoline containing more than 10 percent ethanol.
