Climate Campaigners Say Biden Ethanol Push Is 'As Silly as It Is Dangerous'

As U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a suspension of seasonal regulations on ethanol blending—part of a bid to lower gas prices—climate campaigners criticized the White House for pursuing what they characterized as an economically impotent and environmentally harmful policy instead of advocating for more effective and popular solutions: a windfall profits tax on Big Oil and aggressive clean energy transition.

With inflation and corporate profits at their highest levels in decades—thanks in large part to price gouging at the pump and beyond—Biden "headed to corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday with a modest step aiming to trim gasoline prices by about a dime a gallon," the Associated Press reported. Nationwide, a gallon of gas currently costs about $4.10 on average.

AP noted that "most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol, a biofuel that is currently cheaper than gas." Biden announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver allowing the continued sale of E15, a 15% ethanol blend typically prohibited between June 1 and September 15 due to concerns that it worsens air quality amid hotter summer temperatures.