Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate
He did that in Iowa. That was the deal-breaker, and remains one.
Here's the kicker:
The EPA is the agency which oversees the compliance with the Ethanol (Renewable Fuels) mandate.
Trump just wooed the coal miners in WV, but it is the EPA which is killing coal fired power plants and destroying their way of life (not just jobs).
The evils perpetrated by that agency are incredible and far reaching, and the second he said he'd use them to the 'fullest extent of the law' to enforce that mandate, I knew they were not going anywhere.
I also knew Making America Great Again in the presence of the agency which has caused more manufacturing, refining, and resource extraction jobs shut down, pack up, and move elsewhere was a pipe dream. Just another bumper sticker.
Note:
The event came hours after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) told voters in the first state to choose presidential candidates that they shouldn’t vote for Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), one of Trump’s most potent challengers.
Note that Gov Branstad's son is a Lobbyist for the ethanol industry, and that Branstad said the Cruz must be defeated "whatever it takes" as a result of Cruz saying he's remove the mandate and subsidies and let ethanol compete in the marketplace. (Oil doesn't get subsidies, just the same tax breaks as any other industry).
At the time I thought Trump was just pandering (and maybe he was) but he explained it away as something needed for energy independence.
A fuel which has a net investment of more oil than the ethanol produced isn't going to make America energy independent any more than a change machine that gives you 85 cents for every dollar you feed in is going to make you rich.