EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt got an earful from Kansas corn and ethanol producers during a visit yesterday to East Kansas Agri-Energy (EKAE) in Garnett. After touring the plant Tuesday morning, Pruitt sat down with a roomful of farmers and ethanol supporters who told him they were “mad as hell” about EPA efforts they believe undermine the RFS law. The EPA …
Driving Ethanol Podcast from FEW18
The past two years have been among the most challenging for the ethanol industry, and Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor has been at the front lines of the battles which are continuing stronger than ever. In this edition of the Driving Ethanol podcast, Skor reflects on her two years at the helm of the industry organization and talks about what …
Plenty for Ethanol Industry Panel to Discuss
A panel discussion on “Surveying the Health of Renewable Fuels Policy under the Trump Administration” gave participants plenty to talk about during the opening session of the Fuel Ethanol Workshop on Tuesday in Omaha. The panel included Geoff Cooper, executive vice president of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA); American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings; and John Fuher, vice …
Ethanol Report on EPA Lawsuits
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has joined a coalition of biofuel and agriculture groups in a lawsuit against EPA over lost volumes of renewable fuel resulting from retroactive small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations. RFA is also a petitioner in a lawsuit filed last week over three specific small refinery exemptions granted by the agency. “EPA Administrator …
Farm and Biofuel Groups Sue EPA Over Lost Gallons
A coalition of biofuel and agriculture groups have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change its regulations to “account for lost volumes of renewable fuel resulting from the unprecedented number of retroactive small refinery exemptions from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations recently granted by EPA.” The petitioners are the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth …
E15 Gone Today Despite Trump Promises
It’s June 1 and fuel retailers in the majority of the country who were selling 15% ethanol blends yesterday can’t today because of what President Trump calls “unnecessary and ridiculous” summertime E15 restrictions. With the deadline approaching yesterday, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig joined the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) in calling on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to use …
Ethanol Coalition Suing EPA Over Refinery Waivers
A coalition of farm and ethanol organizations has filed a lawsuit over the Environmental Protection Agency’s “secretive small refinery exemptions.” The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and National Farmers Union (NFU), with support of Farmers Union Enterprises, filed the suit late Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th …
Waivers Continue as Officials Plan Biofuels Meeting
As officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture were preparing for a meeting today on the Renewable Fuel Standard, reports surfaced that the nation’s second largest oil refiner has requested a “hardship waiver” for one of its facilities. Marathon Petroleum is in merger talks with Andeavor, one of the first large oil companies reported to …
ABFA Suing EPA Over Small Refinery Waivers
The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt over the agency’s process of granting small refinery exemptions from compliance Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) obligations. “We have seen reports that the number of small refinery exemptions recently granted for compliance years 2016 and 2017 have doubled compared to previous years,” said …
Groups Urge EPA to Move on Pathway Approvals
As the Environmental Protection Agency has been approving small refinery exemption requests at a record pace, dozens of ethanol plants have been waiting for months to receive approvals for new pathways to produce cellulosic ethanol, including from corn kernel fiber. Five state biofuels organizations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt this week asking him to “shift administrative time …