Biofuels Caucus Town Hall Talks Ethanol Issues

by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) Members of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus held a virtual town hall Wednesday to discuss the challenges currently facing the ethanol industry and what can be done to help.

Participating in the meeting were caucus members including Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), and Rodney Davis (R-IL) as well as ethanol and agricultural group leaders.

House Agriculture Committee Chair Peterson says while the Senate has yet to vote on the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, he will not vote for any bill that provides no aid for biofuels producers – and he is still hopeful USDA could yet find dollars for producers in the previous legislation. READ MORE includes AUDIO

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson was asked about the Renewable Fuel Reimbursement Program included in the HEROES Act.

“You never know what the Senate is going to do, but the day after we passed that bill I had a discussion with (Senate Ag Committee Chairman) Pat Roberts and got the impression that he was going to be supportive of what we have done.”

The Reimbursement Program is designed to help ethanol producers recover from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Peterson, a Democrat from Minnesota, recently sent a letter to the Trump Administration highlighting the importance of direct assistance for biofuels.

“I just think it’s a mistake the way they went about this, and I think they can still correct this. So I wouldn’t give up, I would keep your oar in the water. And if you’ve got anybody in the Administration that you can talk to, or anybody that knows somebody in the White House, I wouldn’t give up.”

Peterson says if the Senate comes back with a bill that does not give agriculture a fair shake, he will lead the charge on the House floor to kill it. READ MORE

Excerpt from OPIS: In a virtual "town hall," caucus members and agricultural and renewable fuel industry officials agreed that a direct approach to Trump may be the best way to resolve a series of challenges facing the renewable fuels sector.

Most Midwest voters came out for Trump in the 2016 election, allowing him to carry all Midwest states except for Illinois and Minnesota. Trump will likely need to hold on to his Midwest support and possibly add Minnesota's electoral votes if he hopes to take the election.

Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, said the renewable fuel and agriculture sectors need to be "yelling and screaming from the rooftops to keep this administration accountable. If the president wants to win reelection, then that is all well and good, but I think we can leverage that politically," he added.

Ultimately, Loebsack said, it comes down to the president, and not some "nebulous group out there called the administration," to "hold the EPA's feet to the fire."

Loebsack also suggested that with most polls now showing Trump running behind presumed Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Republicans may be concerned about their election-year prospects and may be more inclined to support including biofuels in the next COVID-19 financial aid bill.

Kansas Republican Rep. Roger Marshall added that the president is "well aware of what is at stake here" in November's election. READ MORE

Excerpt from Fence Post: The next Senate coronavirus aid package is likely to include the agriculture provisions that the House included in the HEROES Act, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Wednesday during a Bipartisan Biofuels Caucus virtual town hall meeting.

The Senate bill is likely to include the aid to ethanol producers that was in the HEROES Act as well as aid to commodity producers and meat producers, Peterson said. He added that he has spoken with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and that Roberts is supportive of most of the provisions. Senators want some tweaks, Peterson said, adding that he supports most of them.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said this week he expects Senate negotiations on the bill to start after the July 4 recess and the bill to pass on Aug. 6, the day the Senate leaves Washington until after Labor Day. READ MORE