Energy Policy Modernization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, in this Energy bill we are considering, we are going to offer an amendment regarding the renewable fuel standard--also called the RFS. The RFS requires that fuel sold in the United States contain a minimal amount of renewable fuels. You know it because when you go to the gas pump, it says: contains 10 percent ethanol.

The RFS is outdated. It was created in 2005--a time when American energy consumption relied heavily upon foreign imports. It was thought that the renewable fuel standard will be good for the environment by decreasing the carbon footprint, but in the last 10 years our energy landscape has changed dramatically. We now have more domestic oil than almost ever before, and the drawbacks of the RFS greatly outweigh its benefits.

For example, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Americans will be forced to pay $0.13 to $0.26 more per gallon if the RFS is not repealed. For a mom and dad with two teenage sons, this would be $400 a year, but it doesn't stop at the pump.

Over the last 10 years, the price of corn has drastically fluctuated. Corn costs have approximately doubled since before the RFS began. The corn price increasing has increased the cost of food as much as 7 percent to 26 percent it is estimated per year. It also raises costs all the way down. For example, your chain restaurants are estimated to spend $3.2 billion more for the food they purchase and serve to their customers because of the RFS.

Perhaps paying more at the pump, paying more at the grocery store and more at the restaurant will be worth it if there are environmental benefits. Unfortunately, there is not only no environmental benefit, there is tremendous environmental harm.

To begin with, an increase in corn production means that there is an increase in fertilizer use across the Midwest. That fertilizer runs into the rivers, goes down into the Mississippi River, hits the Gulf of Mexico, and causes algae blooms because of the high nitrogen and phosphorous, and that decreases the oxygen in the water, thereby devastating the fish population. If you look at maps of the dead zone in the Mississippi River, they have continuously increased in size since the RFS was put into law.

But it is not just about our water quality. Let's talk about carbon footprint. One of the original rationales as to why we should have renewable fuels: The Union of Concerned Scientists state that certain types of ethanol have a worse carbon footprint than gasoline. So now we have something that not only increases the cost of food and hurts the water quality in the Gulf of Mexico and the rivers that feed it but also has a higher carbon footprint than the gasoline it dilutes.

By the way, it is not just the Union of Concerned Scientists; the National Academy of Sciences says that the renewable fuel standard has little or no environmental benefit and actually increases the particulate matter and sulfur that is in the atmosphere and harms water quality.

Let's just say that with the abundance of our domestic oil and increased vehicular efficiency standards, there is no need for the RFS. It is time to repeal the renewable fuel standard so that our farmers, anglers, ranchers, and consumers can reap the benefit.

In addition to this, I wish to mention another amendment I am offering with Senator Markey. This amendment would save taxpayer dollars and preserve oil reservoirs in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is located in my home State, in Harahan, LA. This amendment gives the Secretary of Energy the ability to sell Strategic Petroleum Reserve quantities of crude oil when the price goes up. Right now, he has been instructed to sell the oil to raise $5 billion but without regard to price. We clearly don't want to sell it when the price of oil is at $30. We want to wait until the price of oil goes back up and sell it then so we can reap multiple benefits. It will allow for more supply so consumers will have lower prices at the pump, and it will also get more money for the oil we do sell, which will be good for taxpayers who bought the oil in the first place.

America is blessed with an abundance of oil. Taxpayers invested in this emergency oil stockpile. Yet some must be sold, and it should be sold at the highest price possible to get the best deal for the taxpayers.

I urge my fellow Senators to support both of these amendments. They are important to American families, critical to America's energy security, and in the case of the RFS, it is critical to our environmental hopes.

I yield back.

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