The ethanol mandate, otherwise known as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), is a federal program that requires an increasing amount of biofuels such as corn ethanol in gasoline.

The initial goals of the ethanol mandate were to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, increase energy independence and security, and drive economic development in rural America.

By driving demand for corn, the ethanol mandate provides incentives to convert natural areas and wildlife habitat into farms. Seven million acres of grassland and other habitats have been converted, even though less than 10 percent of country’s native grasslands remain. Expanded and intensified farming means more pesticides, chemical fertilizers, erosion, and runoff. This contributes to massive algae blooms in Lake Erie and the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, corn, a water intensive crop, requires irrigation that depletes aquifers and threatens water supplies.