The Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act passed by the U.S. House includes provisions of the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act put forth by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN). The provisions set an annual deadline for refiners to request exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard and requires EPA to publicly release the name of refiners requesting a waiver, the number of …
Ethanol Supporters Hopeful Waivers Will Be Denied
Ethanol supporters are encouraged by news this morning that President Donald Trump has directed EPA to deny retroactive refinery exemptions, as he promised Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa that he would. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), National Farmers Union (NFU) and American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) released a statement welcoming the news that petitions intended …
Ethanol Report 8-28-20
As the presidential election nears, the ethanol industry is watching closely to see which candidate will be more supportive of the Renewable Fuel Standard. As Democratic candidate Joe Biden released a strong statement of support for the industry this week, the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency continues to drag its feet on important decisions like the 2021 Renewable Volume Obligations …
EPA Working on 2021 RVO, Waiver Requests
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler says they are working to get the 2021 Renewable Volume Obligations “done as quickly as possible” and promises they will not be as late as the previous administration. “I remember there in the Obama-Biden administration they were actually two years late on setting the RVOs,” said Wheeler during a press call on Wednesday. “So …
Biden Attacks Trump on RFS Support
Democratic president candidate Joe Biden released a statement this week attacking President Donald Trump over his record on renewable fuels. “Instead of standing with those who till our land and sow our fields, we have a president who has sold out our farmers by undercutting the Renewable Fuel Standard with the granting of waivers to Big Oil,” said Biden in …
Biodiesel Ads Urge President to Reject “Gap” SRE Petitions
The National Biodiesel Board has launched a radio advertising campaign in six Midwestern states, urging President Donald Trump to keep his promise on the Renewable Fuel Standard. The ads will run for two weeks in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The 30-second ads say, “EPA is threatening to grant more big oil handouts this year that reduce biodiesel …
EPA Small Refinery Waiver Requests Nearing 100
The Environmental Protection Agency now has 98 requests for RFS Small Refinery Exemptions parked in its online dashboard for consideration. The agency has received another nine new small refinery exemption requests for previous years, along with three new current waiver petitions for 2019-2020. The prior year petitions include one each for 2011 and 2012, two each for the years 2013 …
RFA Welcomes President Trump to Ethanol Country
When President Trump visited Mankato, Minnesota yesterday he was welcomed by a full-page ad in the Mankato Free Press along with a banner on the front page of the local newspaper with the message “Mr. President, welcome to ethanol country. We need your support.” The front-page banner and full-page ad were sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association to remind the …
Ethanol Report 8-14-20
In this episode of The Ethanol Report, we cover a number of different topics on the ethanol front. First, we head to South Dakota for the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where the Renewable Fuels Association once again provided free fuel and ethanol education for bikers, with the new addition of ethanol-based hand sanitizer as a giveaway. RFA’s Robert White, former …
Ethanol Celebrates 15th Anniversary of the RFS
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) commemorated the 15th anniversary of President George W. Bush’s signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which created the Renewable Fuel Standard, by releasing a new report detailing how the policy has driven innovation in the ethanol industry to benefit the nation. President Bush signed the act August 8, 2005. “As you’ll see in …