A bipartisan group of 26 senators have written Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson urging her to use her existing waiver authority to adjust the corn-ethanol mandate for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) as a result of the drought and increasing corn prices. The senators wrote, “As stressful weather conditions continue to push corn yields lower and prices upward, the economic ramifications for consumers, livestock and poultry producers, food manufacturers and foodservice providers will become more severe. In fact, USDA recently announced that the drought gripping half the country will help push food prices above normal food price inflation to 3-4% next year. We ask you to adjust the corn grain-ethanol mandate of the RFS to reflect this natural disaster and these new market conditions. Doing so will help to ease supply concerns and provide relief from high corn prices.” The letter was organized by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). A similar letter signed by over 150 congressmen was sent last week.