As Iowa communities are struggling to survive an unprecedented crisis, several of Senator Joni Ernst’s Big Oil boosters are now trying to capitalize on the pandemic to cripple Iowa’s biofuels industry for good.
In a letter to President Trump – signed by 24 anti-ethanol groups including Americans for Prosperity, who “launched” Senator Ernst’s career, and ALEC, of which Senator Ernst was a dues-paying member while in the Iowa State Senate – Big Oil industry leaders pushed the White House to end the RFS blend requirement, which would pull the rug from under thousands of Iowa workers and farmers and deliver a catastrophic gut punch to Iowa communities thriving on biofuel’s success.
“Senator Ernst’s longest political backers and dark money boosters are the same groups that are pushing to end Iowa’s biofuels economy, and she can no longer have it both ways. Senator Ernst must disavow these groups immediately for their existential threat to Iowa farmers, producers, and communities – and anything less is just empty words to save face with Big Oil as they pour money into her re-election,” said Jeremy Busch, Iowa Democratic Party spokesperson.