White House Spurns Request To Ease Requirement for Corn-Based Ethanol in Gasoline

ADM must have a serious presence in D.C.

President Barack Obama's administration rejected a request from the governors of eight U.S. states to waive requirements for blending corn-based ethanol into gasoline, said a person familiar with the decision.

Market conditions don't justify such a move, said the person, who declined to be identified because he isn't authorized to speak for the Environmental Protection Agency. Gasoline refiners will be required to blend 13.2 billion gallons of the biofuel this year, the EPA said in rejecting petitions from the governors of Arkansas, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Virginia, New Mexico and Texas as well as members of Congress.