Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw says he does not expect a shift in support for Iowa’s ethanol industry when Democrats become the majority in Iowa’s congressional delegation next year. Iowa voters are sending five new members to serve in the U-S House and Senate next year — four of whom are Democrats.
Shaw uses teh phrase “champions of ethanol” to describe exiting U-S House members Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra and U-S Senator Joni Ernst.
Shaw says it’s too soon tell whether Governor-elect Rob Sand will be as big a booster of renewable fuels as his predecessors Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds, but Shaw notes Sand visited Iowa ethanol plants and publicly stated his support for ethanol during the campaign.
Shaw says the re-election of Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig (NEGG) was a relief to the ethanol industry. Naig’s opponent, Democrat Chris Jones, questioned the environmental benefits of ethanol and called for shifting away from ethanol production as a way to boost the diversity of crops grown in Iowa.
Shaw said. Iowa has 42 ethanol plants that produce about 28 percent of the nation’s ethanol — but the total number of gallons produced in Iowa has been stagnant for the past three years.
