WASHINGTON – While the Supreme Court decided last month not to hear arguments against enlarging the use of ethanol in the United States, there is a growing number of House Republicans seeking to roll back the 2007 Energy Act and its Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandate, Daily Tech reports.

“We need to review this and changes need to be made,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told the Detroit News. “We’re hoping to come up with something that’s reasonable and constructive and bipartisan,” perhaps by the end of the year.  

House lawmakers are debating whether to kill the bill or modify it by scaling back its targets. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) has proposed killing it, while Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) wants to revise it. "We want is an RFS (renewable fuel standard) that can work for everyone involved, be it farmers, renewable fuel producers, refiners, and automakers. And most importantly, we want a policy that benefits the American driving public,” Whitfield said.

Should the House act on killing or revising the law, it is unknown what would happen if such a bill makes it to the Senate floor.

“The Democratic controlled Senate has shown very little interest in trimming back corn ethanol blending targets,” Daily Tech notes, adding, “Thus it remains to be seen whether an effort to scale back targets can survive, amidst heavy lobbying from the corn industry,” The news source concluded that it’s a matter of time before E15 arrives at pumps across the nation — “even if that fuel damages your older vehicle, RV, boat or motorcycle.”

NACS is seeking modifications to the implementation of the RFS to better reflect current and developing market conditions and to provide consumers with the best value at the dispenser.