Republican presidential candidates pitched their support for agriculture and ethanol at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona while agriculture leaders touted the benefits of using ethanol to make sustainable aviation fuel
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, vying for the GOP presidential nomination, separately addressed the gathering Thursday. Haley, speaking after DeSantis, attacked him for his efforts as a congressman nearly a decade ago to eliminate the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal mandate that requires ethanol ― the largely corn-based fuel of which Iowa is the top U.S. producer ― to be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.
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“Ron DeSantis just came here and spoke to you. Did he tell you that he authored legislation to ban the Renewable Fuel Standard? Did he tell you that he co-sponsored five different bills to ban the Renewable Fuel Standard?” said Haley, ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump.
Haley and DeSantis head into Monday’s Iowa Caucuses locked in a battle for second place, both seeking to gain momentum in their effort to overtake Trump, the polling frontrunner.
DeSantis told about 700 people attending the summit that he supports the RFS, higher ethanol blends, year-round access to E15 — gasoline with 15% ethanol, the supply of which is usually curtailed in summer because of smog concerns — and an “all-above energy strategy.”