Energy independence and national security were the arguments used for the passage of the initial ethanol mandate in 2005 and its 900-percent increase two years later.
GAO Finds No Real Benefit to the Renewable Fuel Standard
According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the renewable fuel standard (RFS), a federal program requiring the use of biofuels in gasoline supplies, has not lowered gasoline prices at the pump nor significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the biofuels meeting the standard are composed of corn-based ethanol, which has few environmental advantages compared to gasoline. Further, gasoline prices outside of the Midwest, where most of the corn is grown, likely increased by a few pennies a gallon because of the Renewable Fuel Standard, while declining slightly in areas with ethanol plants. GAO indicates that those price effects diminished over time as refiners installed equipment to meet the fuel-blending requirement of the RFS "that, over time, reduced refining costs for gasoline."