Ethanol and biodiesel industry groups commend 24 Senators’ RFS letter to President

May 10, 2020 |

In Washington, D.C., two biofuels groups, Iowa Biodiesel Board and Renewable Fuels Assocation, both released notes of thanks to 24 Senators that signed the bipartisan letter to President Trump urging him to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard and reject the requests for a waiver from five oil state governors.

Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, issued the following statement:

“We commend our senators for recognizing that unlike the oil industry, the biodiesel industry had already endured years of hardship and struggle, exacerbated by the administration’s vacillating commitment to the RFS. This has cost real jobs in the heartland and contributed to the farm crisis.”

“We are grateful to Senators Ernst and Grassley for repeatedly standing up to refiners and defending the RFS, an extremely successful energy policy when working as Congress originally intended. We urge the administration to see through the oil industry’s latest ploy to avoid their legal obligations and return to their unchallenged monopoly on America’s energy supply.”

The Renewable Fuels Association issued this statement from RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper:

“We applaud these senators for fighting to protect the livelihood of American farmers and the 350,000 jobs supported by the U.S. ethanol industry. We join these leaders in asking the administration to stand up for the Renewable Fuel Standard, which has promoted energy diversity, strengthened the heartland’s economy, reduced emissions, and lowered consumer fuel costs for a decade and a half. These senators recognize that recent waiver requests are nothing more than a shameless attempt by oil refiners to seize on a global public health crisis to advance their long-standing political agenda. Now is not the time to abandon this vital policy, especially when so many jobs are on the line in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis. We are truly grateful that these senators understand that.”

Cooper noted that, as of Wednesday, roughly half of the ethanol industry’s production capacity remained offline, and nearly three-quarters of the nation’s ethanol plants were fully idled or had greatly reduced output rates.

“Ethanol plant closures don’t just affect our nation’s fuel supply; they also affect the supply of other critical products made by the industry, such as high-protein feed for livestock and poultry producers and captured carbon dioxide, which is an important product for food and beverage processing and other industries. Shutting down, or even slowing down, our diverse product line has significant ripple effects throughout the entire U.S. economy.”

Read the letter that the 24 bipartisan Senators sent to President Trump here.

Category: Policy

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