Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw and Iowa Biodiesel Board Executive Director Grant Kimberley held a joint press conference Friday to discuss an oil industry study make public by Reuters that shows putting a cap on prices for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS) would not be the “win-win” that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has repeatedly said he wants for the both the oil and biofuels industries.

Shaw points out that RINS are essentially waiver credits that allow refiners to comply with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) without actually blending any biofuels, and the study shows that the goal of lower RIN prices for the oil industry is to destroy demand for biofuels. “From the very beginning, the other side of this argument has been disingenuous, if not outright dishonest,” said Shaw. “They knew their plan would destroy demand, they knew that was their goal.”

“This is also a biodiesel issue,” said Kimberly, citing a new analysis by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and the World Agricultural Economic and Environmental Services (WAEES). “Capping the price of conventional ethanol RINS would lead to a reduction of up to 300 million gallons in biomass-based diesel volumes each year….this happens to be exactly what the state of Iowa produced last year.”

Listen to their comments here: Monte Shaw and Grant Kimberly presser