Presidential politics was part of the 10^th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit last week. Four of the 11 Republican candidates who are seeking their party’s nomination to run for U.S. president spoke at the event. Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump were each given 10 minutes to speak as part of the program. They each spoke at different times during the day -- interspersed between other speakers talking about biofuel issues at the summit, held at Prairie Meadows in Altoona.

SUPPORT BIOFUELS: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addressed the 2016 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit, speaking of the need for Americans to support not only the Renewable Fuel Standard, but also biofuel initiatives that will create new markets and new jobs.

Support for renewable fuels is important issue in Iowa
Each of the four candidates tried to win the votes of ethanol and biodiesel supporters who attended. Trump drew an estimated 1,000 people into the packed auditorium to hear his remarks, more than any of the other speakers. The road to the White House begins in Iowa, as the Iowa caucuses will be held February 1. Voters will gather at their local caucus sites throughout the state this coming Monday night to begin the process of selecting the Democrat and the Republican candidate to represent each party in the election to be held in early November 2016.

Two Republican candidates, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, were not invited to speak at the renewable fuels summit because they don’t support the RFS: the Renewable Fuel Standard. The rest of the Republican candidates and the three Democrat candidates were invited. But only four of the candidates—Santorum, Fiorina, Huckabee, Trump—all Republicans, showed up and spoke. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, sponsor of the annual summit, issued the invitations.

Candidates need to support RFS and other biofuel initiatives
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was the first speaker on the program at the January 19 summit. Vilsack told the crowd of over 500 people gathered for his speech that it’s not enough for presidential candidates to just support the Renewable Fuel Standard. “Candidates also need to support the many initiatives and programs surrounding renewable fuel that help open markets currently dominated by the petroleum industry,” he said. “Also, these programs create new technologies for the biofuel industry, which are needed.

“There are people across our nation who don’t see the same benefits we see, who are attacking the RFS in the courts, and who have been attacking it in the halls of Congress,” said Vilsack. The RFS is a federal mandate requiring ethanol and biodiesel to be blended into the nation’s fuel supply at a certain amount each year. That amount was recently scaled back by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is in charge of setting the annual amounts to be blended with gasoline and diesel fuel.

Point out the benefits of biofuels to people who oppose them
“We need to point out the benefits of biofuels to those who oppose this industry,” said Vilsack, a Democrat and former governor of Iowa. Vilsack said nearly 400,000 Americans are employed by the renewable fuels industry today. He also pointed out that corn-based ethanol is playing a role in reducing the nation’s trade gap, as exports of U.S. produced ethanol and biodiesel have increased. Ethanol and biodiesel produced in the U.S. are helping cut our nation’s dependence on foreign oil imports and helping improve the economy in states outside of the Corn Belt, too.

~~~PAGE_BREAK_HERE~~~

Vilsack added, “Our renewable fuels industry helps diversify the opportunities in rural America to support production agriculture, to support this biobased economy so that we bring manufacturing back to rural areas, so that we have a more stable farm income, and we give people the opportunity to live and work and raise their families in rural areas.”

Vilsack asked the crowd to look at the value of renewable fuels outside of rural America. A few hours after his speech to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit, Vilsack flew to San Diego, Calif. where he attended an event called Green Fleet Week, to help promote and educate people regarding the U.S. military’s use of homegrown biofuels. The Navy launched its first aircraft carrier strike group last week powered by a mix of 90% ship diesel fuel and 10% biodiesel made from beef fat and tallow that came from Midwest packing plants.

More blender pumps will allow consumers to buy higher blends
The Navy has set a goal of filling half of its fuel needs with domestic biofuel production in the next four years, said Vilsack. “My friend Ray Mabus, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, tells people how biofuel gives the U.S. a strategic advantage. It expands our Navy’s options to fuel the fleet. Improving energy efficiency and having less dependence on foreign oil gives us an advantage when it comes to protecting our country.”

Vilsack also explained how USDA is helping boost biofuels by providing increased market access for consumers, in a market that is dominated by the petroleum industry. USDA is providing $5 million to install 107 blender pumps in the state of Iowa to enable the sale of higher blends of ethanol in gasoline and biodiesel in diesel fuel. The state of Iowa is providing $2.5 million in this cost-share program, and private companies are required to match the state and federal funding for installation of the pumps and tanks.

Keeping the RFS strong is very important for the economy
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad also spoke at the summit. “Keeping the RFS viable is more important today than ever before because of the drop in corn and soybean prices which is driving down farm income,” he said. “This is important now for the Iowa economy especially. And for the environment and having a diversity of energy sources so America doesn’t have to depend so much on imports of foreign oil.”

“It is important that we all do everything we can to correct the information that is being circulated about biofuels. Most of this misinformation and pure propaganda is coming from the oil industry, which doesn’t want to give up any more of its market share to ethanol and biodiesel,” said Branstad. “It’s critical that we establish new leadership in the White House that will encourage the EPA to do the right thing and restore the original intent of Congress when it established the RFS. Congress passed that legislation with a vision for a strong and robust RFS.”

~~~PAGE_BREAK_HERE~~~

The four GOP candidates all said they support the RFS
All four of the presidential candidates who spoke at the summit were well received, said Grant Menke, policy director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, which sponsored the summit along with dozens of biofuel industry partners.

Santorum: A former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum called himself an “unabashed supporter of the RFS” and reminded people at the summit that he voted for the RFS as a member of Congress when the RFS program was established in 2005. He warned that if Iowa Republicans choose a presidential candidate in 2016 who does not support the RFS, it will send the wrong message to the rest of the country.

Fiorina: Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, focused a large part of her speech at the summit on “the failings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the crushing complexity of regulations they force upon farmers and businesses.” Regarding the RFS, she noted that “the EPA got pressured by the oil industry and decided to change the volume requirements of the RFS, to lower them. Bureaucrats who are rule makers in Washington are not accountable to anyone and that has got to change.”

Huckabee: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate, received appreciative applause from the audience at the summit when he told them, “The United States should not import its energy. Our agricultural system not only provides the food and fiber we need but now it is doing something else that is truly remarkable -- helping provide fuel for our energy needs.” He said “for a country to remain free, it needs to feed, fuel and fight for itself.”

Trump: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a wealthy New York businessman known for his free-wheeling and often ad-libbed speaking style, carefully read from a prepared statement when he spoke to the summit about his support for ethanol. He said: “The RFS, which is the Renewable Fuel Standard, is an important tool in the mission to achieve energy independence for the United States. I will do all that is in my power as president to achieve that goal.” On the campaign trail in Iowa, Trump has often voiced his support of the RFS, biofuels and ethanol in an effort to contrast himself with his rival, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas.