200,000 Comments on the Renewable Fuel Standard Delivered to EPA: “Stand by Me” Says Rural US to Washington

Scores of farmers and biofuels producers hosted rallies this summer in Kansas City and Washington, DC to elevate their voices, joining numerous elected officials in bipartisan calls for the EPA to protect America’s rural economies and green innovators over foreign oil profits.

“The Renewable Fuel Standard represents a promise to rural America—a promise that, when kept, helped rural economies across America make a strong comeback,” said Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union and one of the Fuels America members who dropped comments off at the EPA this morning. “Today’s tremendous show of support for a strong RFS shows that it is time for the EPA to stop choosing foreign oil over rural America, and start getting the RFS back on track.”

Erick Lutt, Director of Industrial and Environmental Policy at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said: “Today, Americans are sending a strong signal to the EPA that its proposal to lower RVOs under the RFS is unacceptable. The EPA’s misfires and delays have pulled the rug out from the American investors and innovators who have brought the next generation of biofuels online in the U.S. The EPA is already responsible for $13.7 billion in frozen investment in advanced and cellulosic biofuels, and we’re risking sending jobs, innovation, and investment overseas. We can’t afford any more setbacks. The EPA must set RVOs consistent with Congress’ original intent in order to bring investment back to America and allow our country’s innovators to continue developing clean, secure American energy.” READ MORE and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine) and MORE / Comments (Renewable Fuels Association) and MORE (Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE/Kearney Hub) and MORE (BusinessWire/Biotechnology Industry Organization) and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine) and MORE (The Hill) and MORE (Biofuels Digest/Algae Biomass Organization) and MORE (The Energy Collective/UNICA)

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine (Ron Lamberty, American Coalition for Ethanol): Auto manufacturers have produced vehicles capable of using 85 percent ethanol for almost 20 years, and are going on year four of cars and light trucks that specifically approve E15 as a fuel. All in all, cars and light trucks built and warrantied for E15 outnumber “premium only” vehicles about three to one, and diesel cars and light trucks by five or six to one. Even if EPA doesn’t trust its own numbers, manufacturer approved E15 vehicles are more widely available than all the premium and diesel vehicles on the road.

With those numbers in mind, obligated parties still require branded stations to sell premium gasoline, and diesel fuel is widely available, while oil company supply agreements specifically prevent station owners from offering E15. Oil companies have also sued EPA every year to avoid complying with the RFS. Those are the actions taken by obligated parties to get past the blendwall. They don’t want to. But that’s understandable. That’s Big Oil being Big Oil.

No, the real problem with the weakening of the RFS is that the obligated parties know they aren’t really obligated. All Big Oil has to do is read the last two proposed rules to know EPA doesn’t want to enforce the law. They go to great lengths to redefine supply as what oil companies are comfortable selling and defend Big Oil blendwall mythology while ignoring all the roadblocks they’ve jointly established to make sure the imaginary wall stays in place.

The RFS will work if EPA remembers what their E and P stand for, and do their job. Big Oil has responded like this to every fuel regulation change in history, EPA has always held its ground, and Big Oil has always (reluctantly) complied. They would this time, too. READ MORE