Cruz enlightened, forward-thinking on ethanol

The recent editorial by Douglas Burns on the Texas connection between Ted Cruz and Congressman Steve King missed the mark on several important points as it relates to ethanol.

Senator Cruzâ€™ opposition to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is, as the author points out, based on â€œideological rigidity, an unbudging conservatism and refusal to break from his own established boundaries of where the government should and shouldnâ€™t go.â€ Does that make him anti-ethanol? I suppose if the RFS was the sole measuring stick, then perhaps.

But a fundamental misunderstanding regarding Cruz is the accusation that he completely dismisses ethanol and has not taken the time to understand it. Mr. Burns states the senator wonâ€™t even meet with industry leaders. As an Iowa native directly involved in the industry and having built many of the plants in Iowa, I have had numerous personal meetings with Senator Cruz in an effort to get him to support ethanol. From those meetings a different picture emerges, and it is not the anti-ethanol demon he has been cast as.

Anyone who thinks the two are inseparable may not be seeing the big picture for ethanol, or understand what is really going to determine our fate.

In fact, I have had numerous positive discussions with the senator helping him to see that the real challenge for ethanol is getting access to the consumer through a fair and open market.

The RFS began that process to some degree, but the true obstacles lie within the Environmental Protection Agency and the regulatory roadblocks they have put before us. Mr. Burnsâ€™ observation that Senator Cruz has a vision of what the government should and shouldnâ€™t do is accurate, but at the same time Senator Cruz has agreed that the government shouldnâ€™t limit our access to the market through unfair and arbitrary regulations. Similarly, he opposes oil subsidies and is pushing for their elimination.

Eliminating unreasonable and unfair caps on the blend rate. Removing government restrictions that artificially limit market demand for E15 and E30 blends. Ending Catch-22 regulations that nonsensically prevent mid-level blends from serving as test fuels. These are all ideas Cruz has indicated a willingness to work with us on.

The fact of the matter is that the RFS is not going to drive demand from here on.

We are at 96 percent of the allowable volume for corn ethanol under the RFS, and we simply must create new values and pathways.

All we want to do is be able to compete in a free market and allow the consumer to choose the fuels they would like.

Eliminating the regulations that are holding us back opens a market three times bigger than the RFS, and I submit that Senator Cruz just may be the most enlightened, forward-thinking ally ethanol has.

The author is CEO of a company in the ethanol business.

Dave VanderGriend is CEO of Colwith, Kansas-based ICM Inc., which provides innovative technologies, solutions and services to sustain agriculture and advance renewable energy, including food and feed technologies that will increase the supply of world protein. By providing proprietary process technology to 102 facilities with a combined production capacity of approximately 6.8 billion gallons of annual ethanol production, ICM has become a world leader in biorefining technology.

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Replace smart quotes with regular straight quotes

The recent editorial by Douglas Burns on the Texas connection between Ted Cruz and Congressman Steve King missed the mark on several important points as it relates to ethanol.

Senator Cruz' opposition to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is, as the author points out, based on "ideological rigidity, an unbudging conservatism and refusal to break from his own established boundaries of where the government should and shouldn't go." Does that make him anti-ethanol? I suppose if the RFS was the sole measuring stick, then perhaps.

But a fundamental misunderstanding regarding Cruz is the accusation that he completely dismisses ethanol and has not taken the time to understand it. Mr. Burns states the senator won't even meet with industry leaders. As an Iowa native directly involved in the industry and having built many of the plants in Iowa, I have had numerous personal meetings with Senator Cruz in an effort to get him to support ethanol. From those meetings a different picture emerges, and it is not the anti-ethanol demon he has been cast as.

Anti-RFS? Yes.

Anti-ethanol? Not at all.

Anyone who thinks the two are inseparable may not be seeing the big picture for ethanol, or understand what is really going to determine our fate.

In fact, I have had numerous positive discussions with the senator helping him to see that the real challenge for ethanol is getting access to the consumer through a fair and open market.

The RFS began that process to some degree, but the true obstacles lie within the Environmental Protection Agency and the regulatory roadblocks they have put before us. Mr. Burns' observation that Senator Cruz has a vision of what the government should and shouldn't do is accurate, but at the same time Senator Cruz has agreed that the government shouldn't limit our access to the market through unfair and arbitrary regulations. Similarly, he opposes oil subsidies and is pushing for their elimination.

Eliminating unreasonable and unfair caps on the blend rate. Removing government restrictions that artificially limit market demand for E15 and E30 blends. Ending Catch-22 regulations that nonsensically prevent mid-level blends from serving as test fuels. These are all ideas Cruz has indicated a willingness to work with us on.

The fact of the matter is that the RFS is not going to drive demand from here on.

We are at 96 percent of the allowable volume for corn ethanol under the RFS, and we simply must create new values and pathways.

All we want to do is be able to compete in a free market and allow the consumer to choose the fuels they would like.

The RFS from here on does nothing to ensure that.

Eliminating the regulations that are holding us back opens a market three times bigger than the RFS, and I submit that Senator Cruz just may be the most enlightened, forward-thinking ally ethanol has.

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