Ethanol added to our gasoline reduces the harmful emissions that contribute to air pollution. This is critically important to the more than 100 counties that have not yet met the current clean air standards. In these counties, primarily large urban areas, controls on the emissions from stationary sources like utilities have been insufficient. They must now aggressively pursue emissions from mobile sources like cars and trucks. Enter ethanol, an oxygenated additive, that makes cleaner driving possible at a reasonable cost.
Ethanol is good for our cities.
Ethanol is also good for rural areas. This translates to a six percent more income for the typical Iowa feed-grain farm. In Iowa 42,000 jobs on and off the farm are affected by ethanol production. Plus this is exactly the value-added product farm communities need to thrive. Despite these facts, we are once again engaged in the annual battle to eliminate the temporary tax credit essential to the development of our ethanol industry.