Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was met with protests, as corn farmers and ethanol producers complained about his support for oil and gas is hurting their industries.

Corn farmers accuse Pruitt of waffling on a promise by President Donald Trump to boost use of ethanol in motor fuel.

Speakers including the Corn Growers Association President Troy Knecht called for Scott Pruitt to follow the President’s request and allow sales of E15 year-round. Knecht says if he can’t do that, he should be removed from his position...

“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now with trade; an easy fix to uncertainty for us would be to grant us the E15 waiver that we’re asking for.”

“Our 16 ethanol plants consume nearly 400 million bushels last year. We produce over a billion gallons of ethanol in South Dakota and the industry delivers a $4 billion economic boost to our economy every year.”

But the group says the ethanol industry is taking a hit – not only from E15 regulations – but also some of Administrator Pruitt’s recent actions.

“We’ve lost 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol to exemptions that the EPA Administrator has granted to refiners. That equals about 570 million bushels of corn,” said Knecht.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, President Trump says he's "not happy" about some of Pruitt's actions

Corn growers want the EPA to allow summertime E15 sales to boost ethanol production and corn prices.