The renewable fuels industry has not weighed in much on the debate surrounding the recent unveiling of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation: Clean Power Plan. The proposed mandate, that is now open for comment, would reduce power plant emissions by 30 percent by 2030 using 2005 levels. According to Brian Jennings, executive vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), while acknowledging the ambitions rule to limit GHG emissions from power plants, it must be noted that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been successfully reducing GHG emissions from the transportation sector since 2007 when the legislation was enacted.

Jennings said that in 2013 alone, the use of biofuels cut 38 million metric tons of GHG emissions from the transportation sector – the equivalent of the emissions from removing 8 million cars on the road or permanently parking every motor vehicle in Florida. “In other words, the RFS is the strongest and most successful law ever enacted to reduce dangerous GHG emissions from transportation fuels,” said Jennings.

“If the Administration is serious about using the Clean Air Act to implement a broad-based effort to reduce GHGs across various sectors, the best and most important way to do that is to ensure that the RFS works as intended to drive higher usage of renewable fuels versus how EPA has proposed to reduce the RFS for 2014,” continued Jennings. “EPA’s current RFS proposal sets a dangerous precedent by letting oil companies off the hook when it comes to compliance with Clean Air Act GHG standards for transportation fuel. If the Administration expects power plants to comply with this new proposal by curbing their emissions, how can it let oil companies shirk responsibility for complying with the Clean Air Act RFS provision by refusing to allow consumer access to higher blends of ethanol?”