EPA Makes a Move to Help With Gas Prices

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it would temporarily allow widespread sales of a higher ethanol gas blend, in a move that officials hope will tamp down consumer prices that have soared since the Iran war began. The higher blend has been prohibited in warm weather due to concerns it could worsen smog. "President Trump is unleashing American Energy Dominance, and today's action will directly lower prices at the pump and gives a clear demand signal to our domestic biofuels producers," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement, per the AP.

The summer waiver for E15 has become commonplace in recent years, and both Republicans and Democrats have called for it to become year-round and permanent to lower prices at the pump. It's already allowed in some states: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, and most of South Dakota, per the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group. The association said it's also legal in cities that require reformulated gasoline, or gasoline blended with the intent to burn more cleanly.

Not all are convinced the move will substantially lower gas prices. E15 isn't available in all states, and some places don't have the necessary infrastructure or enough of a supply of ethanol to ramp up use, says Yale professor Kenneth Gillingham. Gillingham also says the higher levels of corrosive ethanol in E15 can be a risk, especially to older cars, boats, and ATVs. More corn used for ethanol also means less can be used for animal feed, says University of Minnesota professor Jason Hill. That means consumers could be trading lower costs at the pump for higher costs at the grocery store. "I think it's difficult to see, when the ledger's settled, how this is a benefit for US consumers," Hill notes.

Gillingham also says the move comes at a cost beyond economics. "There's more likely to be ozone issues in the summer, and some people will die," he says. "It will lead to some earlier heart attacks, and it will lead to some earlier respiratory issues that wouldn't have been the case otherwise." The oil industry has generally opposed E15 expansion, arguing that biofuel blending is costly and raises gas prices, though not all concur. "By temporarily easing summer fuel requirements, this action helps ensure American consumers continue to have access to affordable, reliable energy," notes Will Hupman, an American Petroleum Institute VP.