Here in the Midwest, we are well aware of the environmental benefits of clean burning ethanol and biodiesel. But not everyone realizes just how good those fuels are for the air we breathe.

Unfortunately, some of the people who are not up-to-date on the benefits are at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, setting rules for the use of biofuels.

That’s why Iowa’s United States senators, Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley, have joined other Midwestern senators in introducing a bill that would require the EPA to update its thinking in a way that will ultimately be good not only for corn and soybean growers, but all Americans.

The legislation is called the Adopt GREET Act. GREET stands for Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use Act in Transportation Model. That’s a big mouthful, but the bill can be essentially boiled down to one key requirement. That requirement would force the EPA to rely on the most recent scientific research that shows that greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol are 46 percent lower than those from gasoline.

Less greenhouse gases in the air are better for everyone. The EPA’s work should reflect that.

The bill would also require the EPA to update its data on biofuels every five years.

This proposal is a bipartisan effort. Republicans Ernst and Grassley have introduced the bill with senators John Thune, R-South Dakota; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota; and Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

So much good can be accomplished with this legislation. It will reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It will provide steady markets for corn and soybean growers. It will create and protect good-paying jobs at the plants where biofuels are produced.

For those reasons, we call on Congress to pass this bill and we urge President Joe Biden to sign it promptly.