Biden hopes to lower gas prices with new ethanol blend

The Biden administration is hoping to reduce gas prices with an alternative form of gasoline. The EPA is issuing an emergency waiver to allow the sale of fuel with a 15 percent ethanol blend. The White House said this measure could help drivers save an average of 10 cents per gallon in the South and Midwest, which have about 2,300 gas stations in total. 

Gas stations normally sell E10, meaning it is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gas. Ethanol is grain alcohol, which increases oxygenation and reduces pollution when burned as fuel. It also evaporates faster, leading to increases in ground level ozone and smog, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  

This rule change forced the Biden administration to simultaneously grapple with two competing policy priorities – climate change and reducing inflation. But the President has bipartisan support. A group of 14 Senators, including six Democrats and eight Republicans, sent a letter to President Biden in March calling for the sale of E15 year-round.

“If President Biden is serious about driving down costs for Americans, he should allow the sale of E15 during the summer, throughout the energy crisis and beyond. Doing so would be good for families, the environment, and rural America,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) said in a statement after the E15 sale was announced. 

“Not only is this decision a major win for American drivers and our nation’s energy security, it means cleaner options at the pump and a stronger rural economy. American biofuels like ethanol reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent compared to regular gasoline and are key to achieving the nation’s climate goals,” Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor stated. 

The White House has blamed the war in Ukraine for high gas prices and called current inflation the “Putin Price Hike”. In a recent ABC News/IPSOS poll, American respondents said Vladimir Putin (71%) is responsible in addition to oil companies (68%), Democratic policies (52%) and Joe Biden (51%).

The President is taking a multi-pronged approach to reducing gas prices. Two weeks ago, Biden announced he’ll release 180 million barrels of gas from the strategic reserve. Analysis from Gas Buddy shows prices are on average $1.25 higher than a year ago but have fallen for three weeks in a row. They’re also 7 cents lower than last week and 23 cents lower than this time last month.