New push to make corn airborne with sustainable jet fuel

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - According to the Department of Energy, aviation generates about 2% of all man-made CO2 emissions.

To combat that, the Biden Administration is rolling out new guidelines and tax incentives for farmers to produce eco-friendlier ethanol for flying fuel.

Senator Deb Fischer warns the plan is not clear for takeoff.

“With this updated modeling corn and soy based biofuels, even if they complete the additional conservation practices, would still be deemed more carbon intensive than Brazilian sugarcane ethanol,” said Senator Fischer. “My concern is that this is going to lead to taxpayer dollars incentivizing imports of foreign fuel.”

EPA Secretary Michael Regan addressed the concern.

“My focus was to ensure that we put a product across the finish line that gave farmers maximum flexibility and options for Clean Air Act compliance,” said Regan.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are piloting their own plan.

“It’s about opportunity, opportunity for our producers an opportunity for rural America, an opportunity for the airline industry as well,” said Representative Ashley Hinson who is co-sponsoring the Farm to Fly Act.

“We want is for USDA to acknowledge the hard work of our farmers in these programs. We want to make sure that there is a level playing field in terms of access to these programs. And so that’s really what this bill does,” added Rep. Hinson.

So far the bill has strong bi-partisan support.

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