As serious drought conditions continue moving across nearly two-thirds of the country, we are at a critical juncture where federal policy meets real world realities. Because of these extreme weather conditions, corn prices are spiking and some analysts are predicting that the U.S. may experience a corn shortage this summer. Relief from the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is extremely urgent because another short corn crop would be devastating to the animal agriculture industry, food manufacturers, foodservice providers, as well as to consumers. We urge you to adjust the RFS mandate for 2012 to account for the anticipated severe shortage in corn.

When Congress enacted the expanded RFS in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the structure was complex. Given the 15 year statutory schedule imposed by the law — including the specification of four different fuel mandates, each with a separate schedule — Congress also wanted to ensure that certain “safety valves” for the RFS would be available. Thus, EISA retained and expanded Clean Air Act (CAA) section 211(o) (7). Among other provisions, CAA section 211(o)(7) allows the Administrator of the EPA to reduce the required volume of renewable fuel in any year based on severe harm to the economy or environment of a state, a region or the United States, or in the event of inadequate domestic supply of renewable fuel.

The waiver provisions in CAA section 211(o) (7) are an important part of Congress’ intended implementation of the RFS. They help ensure that the domestic economy and environment are protected as we ramp up production and use of renewable fuels and move to broader use of advanced biofuels. Clearly, the Congress in 2007 anticipated that unforeseen circumstances would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exercise flexibility with the RFS. We believe that the current weather situation in the United States calls for exactly the kind of flexibility that was envisioned.

One of the nation’s worst droughts in fifty years has hit the Midwest especially hard at a very sensitive time for the U.S. grain crops. Earlier this month, the United States Department of Agriculture in its monthly World Agriculture Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE), announced the largest decline in month-to-month potential yield for corn in its history. Currently, only about 31 percent of the corn crop is in “good” or “excellent” condition, representing record lows. While improved weather over the coming weeks may increase yields, much of the damage has already been done. There is not time to replant or find new corn stocks, making it necessary for the government to manage this severe situation.

As a result of these deteriorating conditions, corn prices have risen dramatically over the past few weeks and are likely to remain at record highs. This means literally billions of dollars in increased costs for livestock and poultry producers, and food manufacturers. These dramatic increases put food processing jobs at risk and could cost many family farmers their livelihoods. It is also worth noting that high corn prices have forced some ethanol producers to idle or shutter their plants, costing jobs. Although consumers may not feel the impacts of these increased costs right away, the inevitable result will be more expensive food for Americans and consumers around the world.

As you are aware, U.S. corn prices have consistently risen, and the corn market has been increasingly volatile, since the expansion of the RFS in 2007. This reflects the reality that approximately 40 percent of the corn crop now goes into ethanol production, a dramatic rise since the first ethanol mandates were put into place in 2005. Ethanol now consumes more corn than animal agriculture, a fact directly attributable to the federal mandate. While the government cannot control the weather, it fortunately has one tool still available that can directly impact corn demand. By adjusting the normally rigid Renewable Fuel Standard mandate down to align with current market conditions, the federal government can help avoid a dangerous economic situation because of the prolonged record high cost of corn.

Representative Goodlatte’s demand for a waiver to the ethanol mandate is welcome news. But he fails to mention his personal responsibility for the RFS mandate in the first place.
The economy relies on distributed and dynamic information. This information is unavailable to politicians in faraway capitals. Yet, central planners believe they know what is good for us. Friedrich Hayek called it “the fatal conceit.”
Created by the Goodlatte-supported 2005 Energy Bill, the RFS Mandate was intended to reduce dependence on overseas oil and make life better for us. Seven years later, Americans now burn nearly 40% of our corn crop in our engines. Gas prices are high and food prices have skyrocketed. The program is funded, as most of our federal spending, by more borrowing from China.
We don’t know if Goodlatte understands the bureaucrat’s disease of “fatal conceit,” but it is abundantly clear that he suffers from it.

In almost every campaign speech, I say the real battle in American politics is not about liberal vs. conservative but about honest vs. dishonest. Bob Goodlatte’s recent visit to Staunton illustrates that perfectly.

Mr. Goodlatte called a press conference to declare stoutly that yes, people do build their businesses. Following the Republican script, Mr. Goodlatte expressed his disagreement with what he knew President Obama had not said in his speech in Roanoke.

Despite the President’s awkward phrasing that Republicans quoted out of context, he clearly never meant to deny an individual’s role in creating a successful business. Just a few sentences later, the President said explicitly, “when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative,” then adding, “but also because we do things together.”

His point was that we all – even, or perhaps especially, the most successful —owe a lot to our country and to the things that we have created together as a people. We should therefore be willing to contribute our fair share in return.

We have a very good reason to know that the President did not mean what Goodlatte and other Republicans pretend that he meant. No American politician, no matter what he believed, would ever say that. In America, for a politician to deny the achievement of our entrepreneurs is as unthinkable as coming out against motherhood. Whatever else he is, President Obama is an American politician and he is no fool.

Mr. Goodlatte’s Staunton press conference is an example of the politics of dishonesty and distraction. It’s dishonesty because he tried to get people to believe what he himself knows is false. It’s distraction because he tried to fix our attention on a phony issue and away from his failure to address our real challenges.

This has been a do-nothing Congress because that’s what Bob Goodlatte and his Republican colleagues wanted. Even before Barack Obama was inaugurated, Republicans in Congress decided that they would do everything they could to make him fail. We know because they said so publicly.

To make the president fail in a time of economic crisis means making the country fail – and hurting tens of millions of Americans. The Republicans were, and are, willing to sacrifice the good of the nation for partisan advantage