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Corn Growers CEO: EPA decision good and bad news

The chief executive officer of the National Corn Growers Association says there is both good and bad news in the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to put off finalizing ethanol blend volumes for the Renewable Fuels Standard.  The good news, says Chris Novak, is that the EPA took a step back from the lower ethanol blend volumes they proposed a year ago.

“The bad news is that we’ve been waiting on the agency, we’ve been counting on the agency to deliver certainty to corn growers, certainty to consumers in terms of fuel supply as well as to our ethanol industry,” Novak told Brownfield Ag News on Friday.  “Today’s decision simply kicks that can down the road.”

Novak is optimistic.  He says the postponement indicates that the EPA is staying true to the law as passed by Congress.  But he thinks there should be no letup in pressure on the agency.

“Corn farmers and others in rural America who have seen the benefit of having a renewable fuel supply increasing energy independence, those folks need to ensure that their voice is heard by this administration,” said Novak.

Novak is confident that the volume of comments from the country against EPA’s original proposal has a lot to do with the final announcement being put off.  It should be a lesson to those who avoid public comment, he said.

“You need to get off the fence, you need to get on the phone, you need to get on the computer,” Novak said.  “You need to recognize that your voice does count, that it matters.”

The EPA says it will try to get back on schedule in proposing the 2015 and 2016 blending volumes.

AUDIO: Chris Novak (6 min. MP3)

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