Sen. Durbin, ethanol companies join in efforts to halt EPA’s RVO cuts

September 10, 2014 |

In Illinois, US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), urging the OMB to thoroughly review the EPA’s proposal to reduce Renewable Fuels Standard RVO requirements.

“The Administration’s proposed change to the Renewable Fuel Standard seriously missed the mark,” Durbin said. “As written, it would not only undermine our nation’s progress toward domestic energy independence, it would also threaten the thousands of jobs supported by our biofuels industry – including 5,400 in Illinois. I will continue to work with Illinois stakeholders like the Farm Bureau to find a better alternative that moves the biofuels industry forward, and not back.

Long a supporter of the ethanol industry, Durbin has been working with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy since the RFS RVO proposals leaked in 2013.

In addition to Durbin’s efforts, companies including POET LLC, Abengoa Bioenergy and Dupont recently sent a letter to President Obama saying that investments in innovative fuel technology could be lost if EPA does not reconsider.

“If the proposed methodology is not fixed in the final rule … the 2014 rule will have inadvertently done more than your worst critics have to harm a low carbon industry you have always championed,” the executives said.

 

To see Sen. Durbin’s letter.

Category: Policy

Thank you for visting the Digest.