"EPA Moves to Expand Sale of Ethanol-Blended Gasoline" 

"Proposal sets up a direct conflict between Trump administration and the energy industry"

WSJ Article published March 12, 2019

https://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-moves-to-expand-sale-of-ethanol-blended-gasoline-11552433154?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2

Photo source: https://www.epa.gov

Analysis by Nancy Rodriguez

According to The Wall Street Journal article published on March 12, the Environmental Protection Agency planned to attend a hearing on March 29 to propose an increase of year-round sales of gasoline production with higher proportions of corn-based ethanol. The author, Timothy Puko, noted that this would help farmers, those of which President Donald Trump had promised to help, but that it would also negatively affect oil producers. The proposal asked for gasoline with 15% concentration of ethanol to be able to be sold year-round rather than its current eight-month limit. This eight-month limit was originally placed to reduce emissions and because this type of gasoline is more corrosive to pipelines. Further, oil companies respond that this could increase gas prices and some, such as Frank Macchiarola, an executive at American Petroleum Institute, say that the EPA's proposal conflicts with the Clean Air Act. 

I chose this article, because global warming, gas emissions and government regulation are all important and popular topics in the news. It is interesting to see that the EPA considered this proposal when there seems to be serious consequences to this change even if it would help farmers. It is also evident how the two different political parties would side on this issue. As the story said, this is a promise made by the president to important farming states and Republican congressmen who would be happy to see this proposal pass. However, the Democratic Party would most likely be against this proposal, because it could conflict with the Clear Air Act. 

This article relates to marketing, because here you can see how the external factors in the changing market environment affect businesses. In this instance, under political & legal, the government and the EPA, a federal regulatory agency, both hope to increase the use of corn-based ethanol gasoline. Further, it is clear how the change in regulation proposed by the federal agency could affect the businesses involved.  This would affect the oil industry negatively and the farm industry positively. It could also ultimately decrease consumer protection if gas prices and emission rates increase.