Today U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced “The Renewable Fuel Standard Repeal Act” (S. 1195). The bill would repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in its entirety. “The Renewable Fuel Standard is fundamentally broken and beyond repair,” said Senator Barrasso. “Instead of delivering meaningful environmental benefits, it’s driven up food and fuel costs …
Ethanol Industry Bites Back at Restaurant RFS Attack
The National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR) today announced a new campaign focused on repealing the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the ethanol industry is biting back. Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the restaurants just want to fatten profits while denying that it is energy that supersizes food costs. “Here’s a hot, heaping serving of …
A New Twist to an Old Story
The ethanol industry is no stranger to controversy. As Bob Dinneen, CEO and president of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) pointed out during a recent panel discussion on policy issues at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW), the industry has been in a battle for decades. In a recent conversation I had with Dinneen, he noted that a lot of issues …
EPA Set for Action
During the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW), Executive Vice President for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Brian Jennings sat on a panel with other ethanol industry leaders to discuss key policy issues in Washington, D.C. However, in a follow-up to the discussion, Jennings said the real action is taking place on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue with the Environmental …
API Still After RFS
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is still after the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and E15, a blend of 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline by filing yet another waiver. Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) responded by saying this is another example of oil companies unnecessarily scaring people and “it’s just flat out wrong.” “The …
Ethanol Report on RFS-Food Price Study
In this Ethanol Report, John Urbanchuk of ABF Economics talks about a new study, commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association, that shows no direct correlation between the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the overall increase in food prices since 2008. Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.
New Study on Food Prices and the RFS
ABF Economics released a new, detailed analysis showing no direct correlation between the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the overall increase in food prices. The study, commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association, specifically examined “the relationship between the RFS and recent changes in consumer food prices. Specifically this includes an examination of the relationship between corn prices and consumer food …
RFS Hearing – Study in Hyprocrisy
The U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements held a hearing to discuss the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS),”Up Against the Blend Wall: Examining EPA’s Role in the Renewable Fuel Standard.” While many were on the witness list, none actually worked in the biofuels industry. The ethanol industry was quick to …
Study: EPA Lacks Transparency in Feedstock Approvals
A study from a pair of University of Illinois researchers says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks “transparency and clarity” when it comes to approving new feedstocks for biofuels as new pathway determinations. In farmdocdaily.com, James McCubbins and Bryan Endres say that if it’s not biodiesel or corn ethanol, it seems to take a lot longer to get the agency’s …
Ethanol Improving While Oil Gets Worse
The House and Energy Commerce Committee has released its third white paper on the Renewable Fuel Standard, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Impacts.” Executive Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Brian Jennings, responded with written comments that included but were not limited to feedback on the RFS role on the environment, agricultural sustainability and tailpipe emissions. “…petroleum …