Dr. Noah Kaufman is an economist who has worked on energy and climate change policy in both the public and private sectors. Under President Biden, he served as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. He also just published a commentary about ethanol earlier this month in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) website called “A Chance …
Ethanol Blend Rates Hit Record Levels in Summer 2022
The Energy Information Administration reports that this past summer, the price of fuel ethanol was lower than the price of the petroleum component of gasoline, which led to record-high fuel ethanol levels in gasoline sold in the country. “The fuel ethanol blend rate, based on our data going back to 2007, established a new record summer average of 10.5% in …
EPA Biofuel Proposal Deadline Extended to Nov 30
On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Growth Energy agreed under their consent decree to delay issuance of the proposed 2023 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by two weeks to no later than November 30, 2022. EPA is still required to adhere to the consent decree deadline for finalizing the RVOs by no …
Biofuel Groups Praise EPA Reversal of Refinery Exemptions
The Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, the American Coalition for Ethanol and National Farmers Union this week filed a motion to intervene in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to deny 69 petitions from refineries seeking small refinery exemptions (SREs) from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for one or more …
Senators Ask EPA for RFS “Set” Rulemaking
Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) this week led a bipartisan group of colleagues in a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish renewable volume obligations that are additive for all fuel types in the upcoming “set” rule under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The senators also highlighted additional actions EPA should take in order to …
RFA Files Motion in Lawsuit Against EPA over RFS
The Renewable Fuels Association has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency in a suit brought against the agency by the Center for Biological Diversity over the Renewable Fuel Standard. The environmental organization’s suit seeks a court review of EPA’s renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard for compliance years 2020 through 2022, and …
RFA CEO Corrects Anti-Ethanol Fact Errors
As the saying goes, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” In a recent Washington Times guest column, anti-ethanol critic Jerry Jung, founder of the group “ReThink Ethanol,” presents complete falsehoods about both ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard as facts in order to try and prove his opinion that ethanol is bad. Renewable Fuels …
RFA Concerned With EPA Candidates for RFS Review
At least three of the 20 candidates the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to review the environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for Congress have a serious bias against ethanol, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, and should not be considered. In comments submitted this week, RFA urged EPA to exclude these candidates from consideration to serve on …
EPA Official Speaks to Ethanol Conference
It was 12 years ago that Sarah Dunham, EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality Director, spoke to the Renewable Fuels Association’s National Ethanol Conference in Orlando. EPA’s rules for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard had just been issued and 2022 seemed like a very long time in the future. This week, she addressed the conference again to talk about …
Senate Committee Hearing Looks at RFS
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing Wednesday to examine the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) said the committee has not held an oversight hearing on the RFS since 2016. “Since the implementation of the program, we’ve come a long way toward achieving our goals. Economic growth in agricultural communities has expanded …