"Don't Mess with the RFS", 5 biofuels groups tell Congress

In Washington, five major biofuels associations called on Congress “to stand firm in the face of calls to waive or repeal the groundbreaking biofuels provisions included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), including the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).”

The group emphasized “the domestic biofuels industry is already creating jobs, helping to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil,” and “now contributing more than 400,000 jobs and $53 billion in new activity to the nation’s economy.

They cautioned lawmakers that “calls to reduce, waive or eliminate the RFS would send a chilling signal to markets at time when dozens of new biofuels technologies are traversing the so-called “Valley of Death” to first commercialization,” and added that policy certainty “is essential to securing the capital investments needed to bring new biofuels technologies to commercialization.”

The message was signed by Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association; the Honorable Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization; Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association; Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council; and Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol.

A full copy of the letter can be found here.