Obama “caving in to Big Oil instead of holding them accountable to statutory requirements”: Congressman

In Washington, Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley blasted President Obama and his Administration — suggesting that in an effort to pacify Big Oil, the President was betraying the Midwestern economy, long-standing US (and his own) energy policy, and those in the business community who relied on his support in making investments in renewable fuels.

In a blistering letter, Braley told the President that he was “angered and frustrated” with the Administration’s dalliance with reductions in renewable fuel mandates. Braley called the reductions an “unprecedented pivot” from current energy policy that will severely damage economies all across the Midwest and endanger consumer choice at the pump for years to come.

Braley blasted the President for contemplating the pivot after touting that same energy policy in a July speech in which the President said “biofuels are already reducing our dependence on oil, cutting pollution and creating jobs around the country.”

Braley said that the EPA proposal on RVOs was “an affront to the pioneering leaders across America that produce biofuels” and said “I’m stunned that the White House is caving to big oil instead of holding them accountable to the statutory requirements they have been aware of since 2005 and 2007. He noted that the President is contemplating a pivot away from the very energy policy he voted for when a member of the Senate, in voting for the 2005 and 2007 Energy Policy Acts.

A copy of the Braley letter is available here.