do that." Romney's position on federal mandates that require gasoline producers to include ethanol in gasoline blends has been less clear. The Romney campaign responded to a survey question asking for Romney's position on ethanol use mandates by saying the ethanol industry "has made important strides in reducing America's dependence on foreign oil" and ethanol "should continue to have prospects for growing its share in transportation fuels." Romney wrote to the American Farm Bureau Federation, "The increased production of biofuels plays an important part in my plan to achieve energy independence. In order to support increased market penetration and competition among energy sources, I am in favor of maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard." Romney declined to respond to survey questions from the Iowa Corn Growers Association requesting his positions on crop insurance and conservation during the presidential primary campaign. He responded to an American Farm Bureau Federation questionnaire in 2012 by saying, "my immediate priority [as president] should be given to enacting disaster relief for those not traditionally covered by crop insurance as this year's drought has worsened." Automotive industry During the 2008 presidential primary campaign, Romney had distinguished his prescription for the automotive industry from rival candidate John McCain's by calling for a five-fold increase, to $20 billion per year over five years, in federal funding for research and development in energy, fuel technology, materials science, and automotive technology. In a January 14 speech, he stated, "I'm not willing to sit back and say, ' ... Too bad for the people who've lost their jobs. They're gone forever.'" As the automotive industry crisis of 2008 arose amidst the near collapse of the private-sector credit market and banking industry in late 2008, Romney argued against a bailout with direct government loans of the auto industry. He proposed that struggling auto manufacturers should undergo managed bankruptcy, after which they should seek loans from the private-sector credit market with government-backed loan guarantees. Writing in an op-ed article published in The New York Times in November 2008 (his original title had been "The Way Forward for the Auto Industry" but the editors published the article under the title "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt"), Romney said, "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye." In referring to his proposal for managed bankruptcy, he said "[i]t would permit the companies