IRFA head reacts to general election results

(Des Moines) -- Iowa's top renewable fuels proponent believes support for the ethanol industry will continue among the state's newly elected congressional representatives.

Shenandoah native Monte Shaw is executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Shaw analyzed the results of last Tuesday's general elections and the likely impact on ethanol on KMA's "Morning Line" program Monday morning. While saying he's excited to work with Iowa's newly elected U.S. House members--three of which are Democrats--and U.S. Senator-elect Josh Turek, Shaw expressed sadness over the departure of what he called "champions of ethanol" from the state's congressional representation.

"We have five champions--absolute champions--leaving Congress," said Shaw. "Every one of the House members that are leaving, Senator Ernst--they were champions. Now, our new folks, I call them supporters. Now, that's not criticism, but to be a champion, you have to have some experience, you have to know the details, you have to have your staff up to speed, and you have to be willing to make it one of your priorities. I think that with these new folks that were elected, we will have champions. But, it's going to take time to get there."

Though Democrats will control both the U.S. House and Senate come January, Shaw doesn't expect a radical shift in ethanol support on a national level.

"One of the areas that they do agree with is, like, clean fuels," he said. "So, like, the 45-Z tax credit, which will help farmers adopt practices that will not only lower the carbon intensity of their corn and soybeans, but also help with water quality. So, I think that is an area of commonality that we could work on."

Shaw says time will tell as to whether Governor-elect Rob Sand supports renewable fuels as much as predecessors Terry Branstad and Kim Reynolds. But, he adds Sand indicated his support for ethanol and visited ethanol plants during his campaign.

"It doesn't take long to figure out how the Iowa economy goes is based on how the farm economy goes," said Shaw, "and the one thing that we could really do to boost that is to boost demand for biofuels. So, again, regardless of party, if you're from the Midwest, you tend to understand that, you tend to be supportive, because it's one of those things you can actually impact. So, we look forward to working with Governor-elect Sand, and see how it goes."

Shaw, however, expressed happiness over Mike Naig's reelection as Iowa agriculture secretary. Naig's opponent, Democrat Chris Jones, called for a strategic withdrawal from the ethanol industry during the campaign.

"We were very glad that Chris Jones lost," he said, "because it would have been really annoying to have the secretary of agriculture quoted by oil state senators, or quoted by the New York Times or the L.A. Times or the Washington Post trashing ethanol. But it wasn't just ethanol--he wanted us to stop growing corn and soybeans."

IRFA head reacts to general election results

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