A study found that the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard has failed to meet greenhouse gas emission targets but increased corn prices by 30%. The Renewable Fuels Association called the report "a completely fictional and erroneous account of the environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard."
The carbon intensity of corn ethanol supported by the U.S.'s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is likely at least 24% higher than gasoline, according to a peer-reviewed study from University of Wisconsin researchers.
Researchers determined that the production of corn-based ethanol under the RFS policy "has failed to meet the policy’s own greenhouse gas emissions targets and negatively affected water quality, the area of land used for conservation, and other ecosystem processes." The RFS also pushed prices for corn up by 30% and other crops by 20%, they said.
The study aims to support policymakers as they determine the future of the RFS, which is among the world's largest biofuel programs. The policy was first established in 2008 and is now under review by the Biden administration.
The study, Environmental outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard, will be published in the March issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The work was supported by the U.S. Deptartment of Energy and the National Wildlife Federation, among others. The Bloomberg news service noted that the National Wildlife Federation is a vocal critic of the RFS.
'Precarious' conclusions, shouts trade group
The Renewable Fuels Association, which aims to expand demand for American-made biofuels, said the RFS is the "single most successful clean fuels policy in the U.S." The group said ethanol has saved Americans money, reduced the country's dependence on foreign fuels, and supported job growth.
The Renewable Fuels Association accused the researchers of "precariously" connecting a series of "worst-case scenarios." The trade group's president and CEO, Geoff Cooper, said that the RFA previously met with the study's author and offered to collaborate on research but never heard back.
RFA released a line-by-line rebuttal of the University of Wisconsin study. The group references a study released in 2021 by authors linked to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that found well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions of corn ethanol to be 40% lower than gasoline produced from crude oil.
The authors of Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States attributed declining carbon intensity to improved farming practices, more efficient use of natural gas, and an increasing share of electric generation by ethanol refineries.
Hillsdale College is a rightwing Christian extremist organization that ostensibly honors the United States Constitution.
Here’s their quiz, which should be called the “Constitutional Trivia Quiz.”, whose purpose is obviously to convince Americans of their ignorance.
When I teach, I’m going for understanding of the topic, not the memorization of useless information.
Here’s a story:
He had 3 days left until graduation.
Kendrick Castillo was 18. A robotics student. College bound. Accepted into an engineering program. The final week of school felt like countdown, not crisis.
Then a weapon appeared inside a classroom.
Students froze.
Kendrick did not.
Witnesses say he moved instantly. He lunged toward the attacker. No hesitation. No calculation.
Two other students followed his lead.
Gunfire erupted.
Kendrick was fatally sh*t.
But his movement changed the room.
Classmates were able to tackle and restrain the attacker until authorities arrived. Investigators later stated that the confrontation disrupted the attack and likely prevented additional casualties.
In seconds, an 18-year-old made a decision most adults pray they never face.
Afterward, the silence was heavier than the noise.
At graduation, his name was called.
His diploma was awarded posthumously. The arena stood in collective applause. An empty seat. A cap and gown without the student inside it.
His robotics teammates remembered him as curious. Competitive. Kind. Someone who solved problems instead of avoiding them.
He had planned to build machines.
Instead, he built a moment.
A moment that classmates say gave them time.
Time to escape.
Two points:
If you can read this without tears welling up in your eyes, you’re a far more stoic person than I.
Since Big Money has made it impossible for the United States to implement the same common-sense gun laws that exist in the rest of the planet, this story will reduplicate itself into perpetuity.
How often does this happen? How about never?
Trump loves to say that little boys go to school and come back home little girls.
He’s the most powerful person in the world for exactly one reason: We’re a nation of morons.
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