Nearly 30 years ago this Christmas time, the world saw one of the greatest human sufferings ever unfold before its eyes, as a million people starved to death in Ethiopia. In a particularly poignant moment during yesterday’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) hearing, Rick Schwarck, the president and CEO of Absolute Energy, an ethanol producer on the …
Real Jobs on the Line with EPA’s Changes to RFS
One of the country’s oldest ethanol producers says it could generate a lot of economic activity for the rural communities where it has had to idle some plants, if the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) wasn’t being tinkered with. Speaking at yesterday’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing on the agency’s proposed changes to the RFS, Mark Beemer, President of Aventine Renewable …
RFS is Working… Why Are We Here?
So the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) should certainly be considered a success since it is doing many of the things it was projected to do: – A capacity that is greater than 10 percent of the total fuel supply (that amount was expected right in the original bill) – An alternative to foreign-based fuels – A growing renewable fuels industry …
Branstad Makes Impassioned Plea for RFS
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad made an impassioned plea in favor of the current Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and showed no love for what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing for reducing the amount of ethanol and biodiesel to be put into gasoline as originally mandated in the 2007 law. “After decades of efforts to reduce our dependency on foreign …
Patriot’s Hulting Tells Rural Businesses’ Side of RFS
A change in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) will have dramatic impacts for the small businesses that have cropped up in rural America. That was the message Patriot Renewable Fuels‘ Judd Hulting made to the Environmental Protection Agency’s hearing on its proposal to reduce the amount of ethanol and biodiesel to be mixed into gasoline. “We believe what is being …
Dinneen: RFS Not for Big Oil’s Convenience
The case for keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as-is is being made today at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing in Arlington, Va. Our friends from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) have shown up in force, making sure biofuels’ voices are being heard. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the RFA, told the EPA that they need to keep …
Live From EPA Hearing on RFS
We are live from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard in Arlington, Va., just across the Potomac River from the Nation’s capital! In less than an hour, we’ll start hearing from advocates and friends of the biofuels industry, in particular, our friends from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), who have come from across the country …
Big Turnout Expected for EPA RFS Hearing
A huge turnout is expected Thursday at a public hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Renewable Fuel Standard volume obligations for 2014. Literally busloads of stakeholders, both opposed to and in favor of cutting the requirements, are attending the hearing at the Hyatt in Crystal City, Virginia. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad will be attending with several Iowa livestock producers, …
RFS Proposal Could Devastate Rural Economy
Representatives from state government, the agriculture community, and the ethanol industry all say the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) biofuels requirements would have a negative impact on agriculture and rural economies. During a telephone press discussion today about the proposal, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said he was proud of his state’s leadership in biofuels production and …
EPA Opens Comment Period for RFS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has officially published the proposed 2014 renewable fuel standard in the Federal Register that starts a 60-day public comment period that runs until January 28, 2014. EPA’s proposal significantly lowers the levels of ethanol and biodiesel that must be blended in the nation’s fuel supply. “It is unfortunate that the Obama administration has caved in …