President Donald Trump did mention energy in his first State of the Union address, albeit briefly.

“We have ended the war on American energy, and we have ended the war on beautiful clean coal,” said the president. “We are now very proudly an exporter of energy to the world.”

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen appreciates the President’s “America First” focus and hopes the administration will help address trade barriers for U.S. ethanol. “Indeed, last year the U.S. exported a record 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol to more than 60 countries. Increasingly, however, our exports are being met with tariff and non-tariff barriers that reduce U.S. market opportunities, while harming foreign consumers. We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to reduce those barriers and create a free, fair and global market for ethanol.”

Rebuilding infrastructure was a key theme in the president’s address, calling on Congress to “produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs.” Dinneen would also like to see that effort includes continued funding for USDA’s Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership program, and “revising volatility regulations that prohibit E15 and higher ethanol blends from being sold year-round when there’s no environmental or consumer benefit to limiting its access.”