Stephanie Batchelor, Vice President, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Special to The Digest As we speculate on the details and implications of the administration’s renewable fuels deal, the future of an entire green industry hangs in the balance. The debate over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has become muddied with rhetoric about special interests and government […]
In Iowa, new public opinion research shows a decisive 78 percent of voters in Iowa support expanding biofuel usage in the U.S. through the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. In addition, 77 percent of voters said it’s important to them that the president keep his promises on supporting the RFS. The Iowa Biodiesel Board commissioned the […]
In Washington, Courthouse News reports that a DC district court ruled last Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency was right in its rulemaking of the Renewable Fuel Standard, ruling against complaints by both the oil industry who said blending mandates for 2014-2016 were too high as well as the biofuel industry who said they were […]
In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler outlining the damaging effects of the 31 new small refinery waivers (SRE’s) undermining the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Reynolds and Naig also extended an invitation to Administrator Wheeler to come to Iowa and see the devastating […]
In Indiana, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has come out swinging against the Trump Administration’s position on hardship waivers for small refiners under the Renewable Fuel Standard, saying in his strategy to support rural America that he will “stop the abuse” of the waivers and stand by the RFS as written. He says by allowing […]
EPA might have a new name in some circles – Exemptions for Petroleum Agency – thanks to the 31 small refinery waivers issued on Friday which has the biofuels and agriculture industries reeling after promises made by President Trump to look into why big oil companies were getting these exemptions intended for small biorefineries and […]
In Washington, D.C., U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) renewed their efforts to get rid of the corn ethanol mandate in the RFS. According to Senator Toomey’s statement, they “are working together to end an egregious form of corporate welfare that hurts the environment and drives up the cost of everything from […]
Maybe it was too many fireworks, too many hot dogs, or the summer heat in D.C., but the EPA came back the day after the 4th of July holiday with a whopper for next year’s biofuel targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard that have the farming and biofuel sectors reeling in frustration and disappointment. Maybe […]
In Washington, D.C., Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the RFS Integrity Act of 2019 on Friday. The bill sets a June 1 deadline for small refiners to submit petitions for exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), requires transparency in filing in place of the current confidential waiver process, requires the […]
In Washington, a bipartisan group of nine Senators led by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency administrator this week urging action to activate the renewable electricity pathway in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The Senators’ letter follows a provision in the Interior-EPA Appropriations bill signed […]
