WASHINGTON – The National Council of Chain Restaurants today issued the following statement from Executive Director Rob Green following the release of an Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General report that found the agency failed to comply with legal requirements to identify environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“Today's report from the EPA's Inspector General is troubling to say the least. This revelation is the latest in a steady stream of failures associated with the ethanol mandate, and should be a wake-up call to Congress – the time is now to repeal the flawed RFS mandate."
“Any clear-eyed view of the EPA's performance over the 11-year history of the RFS will recognize that the mandate has always been driven more by political considerations than science, or benefit to the environment or consumers. From documented damage to food commodity production and markets to scientific evidence that clearly shows that corn-based ethanol is bad for the environment, the failures of the RFS are clear and convincing.”
A PricewaterhouseCoopers study conducted for NCCR concluded that if the corn ethanol mandate is left unchanged, chain restaurant industry costs will increase by up to $3.2 billion a year, with a typical chain restaurant location facing $18,000 in increased food commodity costs. NCCR’s RFS off the Menu campaign continues to highlight the negative consequences of the RFS on the food supply chain.
The National Council of Chain Restaurants is the leading trade association exclusively representing chain restaurant companies. For more than 40 years, NCCR has worked to advance sound public policy that best serves the interests of restaurant businesses and the millions of people they employ. NCCR members include the country's most-respected quick-service and table-service chains. NCCR is a division of the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade group.