This afternoon, Growth Energy responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s expanded Renewable Fuels Standard, that will create the platform for reaching 36 billions gallons of biofuels by 2022, and specifically praised the Obama administration and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
“Growth Energy commends the Obama White House and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for recognizing the value of domestic ethanol both as a low-carbon fuel and as a U.S. jobs creator. The expanded Renewable Fuels Standard released today rightly puts an emphasis on America’s growth energy – ethanol – and that in turn will help our economic recovery, strengthen our national security and clean our skies,” Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, said.
The Association noted several improvements to the rule including the decision to make volume levels of domestic ethanol retroactive to the first of the year. Technically, the blending levels for 2010 were to have been announced back in November but the EPA held off on determining those levels until they completed the new rules.
“Further, we’re pleased that EPA recognizes grain ethanol as a low-carbon fuel, and changed its indirect land use change penalty from its original proposal last year. However, while we appreciate that the EPA recognizes the uncertainty of ILUC, the fact remains that ILUC is still in the rule. This puts the cart before the horse, and our position is that ILUC should not be applied in regulation until we have a thorough, long-term study of the issue,” continued Buis.
Another area of concern lies in the fact that ILUC gives favoritism to Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, thus opening the door to a reliance on foreign energy once again.
Buis concluded, “Further, by using skewed ILUC calculations, the RFS gives Brazilian sugarcane ethanol preferred status as an advanced biofuel. I don’t think that was the intent of Congress when it passed the Energy Independence and Security Act. It won’t make the U.S. any more energy independent by switching our addiction from foreign oil to foreign ethanol.”
*Post update*
Listen to or download an interview with Tom Buis on Growth Energy reaction to the RFS2 rule here: