Upward pressure on gas prices isn’t just Iran, but a mandate closer to home

CEI’s Ben Lieberman was cited by the Washington Examiner relating to renewable fuel standards.

Critics have compared the program to Calvinball, the game in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, where the rules change constantly.

“The RFS undoubtedly adds to the price at the pump, and things have only gotten worse now that the mandate for 2026 and 2027 was increased,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Washington Examiner. “Keep in mind that, without the RFS, refiners and fuel retailers would be free to blend in as much or as little ethanol as makes economic sense.”

The federal government controls more than just how much ethanol has to be blended into gasoline. It also determines how many fuel credits can be used on imported versus domestic biofuels.

Read the full article at the Washington Examiner.