WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed for the first time to ease an annual requirement for ethanol in gasoline, saying that levels mandated in a 2007 law are difficult, if not impossible, to meet. The move represents one of the biggest setbacks to date for ethanol, long seen as a promising way for the U.S. to reduce dependence on imported oil. Most U.S. ethanol comes from corn, and the move came despite a heavy lobbying push from corn-producing states. Under a 2007 law, refiners were supposed to blend more than 14 billion gallons of ethanol into the nation’s gasoline supply in 2014, representing more than 10% of the gasoline motorists pump annually. Refiners and oil companies called the level too high, saying it would require them to produce fuel that could damage engines, and the EPA said it had authority to roll back the congressional mandate. The proposal […]