Calls for E15 Action Face Unwritten Deadlines

March 30, 2022

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Spencer Chase (Agri-Pulse) The Biden administration is fielding a steady stream of requests for emergency action to allow for summertime sales of E15, but those calls are coming up against the realities of the fuel supply chain as demonstrated by the actions of a pro-biofuel company.

In various outreach to Biden – including a bipartisan letter from 16 senators, a letter authored by the Renewable Fuels Association with more than 1,000 signatures from producers, and a letter from Iowa’s congressional delegation, to name a few – the administration is pressed to consider the impacts of rising gas prices due to inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine as justification for the emergency action. A letter from farm and biofuel groups goes as far as to specify three possible steps the administration could take to make it happen. Geoff Cooper, RFA’s president and CEO, said the administration has signaled it’s open to the idea of expanded E15 use but hasn’t taken the kind of concrete steps the industry has requested. “They also know that if some action isn’t taken by June 1, then drivers who are currently using E15 are going to experience another unwelcome pump price increase because the lowest-cost fuel in the marketplace will no longer be available to them,” Cooper said in a statement to Agri-Pulse. READ MORE

Rep. Craig Hopes EPA Will Allow Year Round E15 (Energy.AgWired.com)

BROWN: YEAR-ROUND E15 CAN HELP COMBAT DOMESTIC ENERGY COSTS (Brownfield Ag News)

THE ROLE OF E15 IN ENERGY SECURITY FOR THE US (Brownfield Ag News)

Midwestern lawmakers are trying to replace Russian oil with ethanol: Advocates of increased ethanol sales argue that it could lower fuel prices and help the climate. Both counts are hotly contested. (Grist)

FEENSTRA SAYS EPA HAS “NO INTEREST” IN MAKING E15 AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER (Brownfield Ag News)

Ethanol would offset foreign oil dependency, Farmers Union president says (Jamestown Sun)

Ethanol Report 3-29-22 — How Ethanol Can Lower Gas Prices (Energy.AgWired.com; includes AUDIO)

Corn could be the answer to high gas prices: Midwestern lawmakers push Biden to allow E15 gasoline production year-round (Fox Business; includes VIDEO)

BIOFUEL UNDER REVIEW: (Politico's Morning Energy)

29 BIPARTISAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SEND BIDEN LETTER CALLING FOR GREATER ACCESS TO BIOFUELS (Brownfiels Ag News; includes AUDIO)

Growth Energy ad campaign: E15 can deliver relief at the pump (Ethanol Producer Magazine; includes VIDEO)

Americans Support Expanded E15 Use to Lower Gas Prices (Energy.AgWired.com)

Ethanol Blog: Federal Lawmakers Push Biden Administration to Make Year-Round E15 Sales Permanent (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Lawmakers Request Biofuel Regulation Easing to Lower Gas Prices (Bloomberg)

Ethanol producers push E15 as replacement for Russian oil (WISHTV; includes VIDEO)

Ethanol loses out again as White House tackles gas prices (E&E News)

White House Fuel Price Plan Overlooks Biofuels (AgWired; includes AUDIO)

Biden Administration Overlooks Biofuels in Plan to Address Higher Fuel Prices (WNAX; includes AUDIO)

Advocates pushing biofuels with the White House (Ohio's Country Journal/Ohio AgNet)

High gas prices pose challenge for ethanol despite E15 hopes (Agri-Pulse)

Biden administration "considering" summertime sales of E-15 (RFD TV)

Iowa, Kansas petition EPA to issue emergency waiver for E15 (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

OPINION: Fuel retailers join push for year-round E15 (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

EPA chief hears more pleas to boost use of E15 (Agri-Pulse)

EPA evaluating options ahead of summertime restrictions on E15 sales: Regan (S&P Global)

Regan: EPA is evaluating authority to allow summer E15 sales (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

U.S. energy plan disappoints ethanol sector (Western Producer)

Senators Press EPA Administrator on E15 (Energy.AgWired.org; includes AUDIO)

RFA Campaign Amplifies Push for Year-Round E15 (Renewable Fuels Association)

Biden to announce plan to ease gas prices as inflationary pressures persist -- The EPA plans to issue a national, emergency waiver to allow use of blended biofuels over the summer hours after report is expected to show inflation keeps surging (Washington Post; includes VIDEO)

Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: Last week, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and several of her colleagues introduced the bipartisan Home Front Energy Independence Act, in an effort to expand the production and availability of American biofuels and lower energy costs for working families.

“At the gas pump this past weekend E15 was anywhere from 30 cents to 50 cents (less), and we found one gas station in a town called Cottage Grove offering E15 at 80 cents less a gallon compared to regular unleaded,” said Craig in an interview Monday. “You’re talking about 20 bucks off the cost of filling your tank!”

Rep. Craig’s bill, along with the companion bill in the Senate, would expand the availability of E15 year-round after a July 2021 D.C. Circuit Court ruling which rejected the volatility waiver for E15 created by EPA in 2019. But she admits it would be easier to make that happen administratively rather than legislatively. “I’m holding out hope that the administration and the EPA does the right thing here,” she said, mainly because it just makes sense. “This is such a win-win. It’s going to help us lower prices at the pump. It’s going to help accelerate the role that biofuels play in our effort to decarbonize the transportation sector to tackle climate change and drive economic growth.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: Senator Sherrod Brown says “the best lesson here is we have to broaden our energy production and that means more E15 fuel.”

The Ohio democrat tells Brownfield it’s critical to expand the availability of U.S. biofuels following the import ban on Russian oil.

“We have a lot of opportunities to broaden our energy inputs, which will stabalize prices and, frankly, will finally push Russian oil more off the world market,” he says.

Brown, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, co-sponsored the recent letter to President Biden.

The senators say American biofuels are a clean and reliable energy solution that will help drive down fuel costs for consumers. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: BIOFUEL UNDER REVIEW: EPA is reviewing the potential to allow summer-time sales of E15 fuel amid the spike in fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two people familiar told ME. Reuters first reported on Wednesday that the Biden administration is considering temporarily removing the restrictions on the blends of up to 15 percent ethanol. And one of the people told ME that EPA’s Office of General Counsel is specifically considering its options available to facilitate the summer-time sale of E15.

The White House already signaled earlier this month it was looking at lifting the ban to bring down the price of gasoline, though it offered no other specifics. EPA press secretary Nick Conger did not comment on the reports Wednesday, but said in a statement that the agency is “considering a range of options across the Administration to help mitigate impacts from Russia’s actions on American consumers.”

The news is sure to please ethanol advocates and corn-state lawmakers who have called on the president to use his authority to lift the summer-time restrictions in a bid to give consumers access to lower cost fuel — particularly after an appeals court last year vacated the Trump-era rule that extended the sale of E15. Bipartisan senators earlier this month, led by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), also wrote to the White House on the issue. “Restoring year-round E15 would provide American drivers with a cleaner, lower-cost fuel option,” Thune added Wednesday evening.

American Petroleum Institute Vice President of Downstream Policy Ron Chittim, however, said in a response that there “is no clear pathway for EPA to establish year-round sales of E15.” READ MORE

Excerpt from AgWired: Biofuel organizations are baffled by the White House “Plan to Respond to Putin’s Price Hike at the Pump” released last week that completely ignores increasing use of renewable fuels. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: More than two dozen members of Congress are calling on President Biden to reinstate year-round E15.

In a letter to the administration, the bipartisan group is asking that biofuels be prioritized to increase energy independence and lower prices at the pump.

Iowa Democrat Cindy Axne is one of the lead authors.

“We’re trying to drive the agenda to get more ethanol out there country-wide, especially during a time when we’re reliant on Russian oil and we really should be producing as much as we can here.”

...

The letter requests an emergency waiver to allow summertime sales of E15 and calls on EPA to reverse the lowering of the 2020 and 2021 Renewable Volume Obligations.

In response to the letter, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor (score) says the message on both sides of the aisle remains loud and clear that the Biden administration must increase access to homegrown, low-carbon biofuels to offer relief at the pump and move toward a more secure energy sector.

Renewable Fuels Association CEO Geoff Cooper says if the administration fails to act on this request, the lowest-cost fuel available at the pump will disappear on June 1^st and drivers will face another unnecessary price hike. READ MORE; includes AUDIO

Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: A new nationwide survey indicates Americans see the potential for ethanol to help lower gas prices at the pump, with the national average running above $4 per gallon.

The survey conducted by Morning Consult found that 72 percent of American voters support expanding the availability of E15 as a way to replace petroleum imports from Russia, and more than 80 percent support increasing domestic renewable fuel production as a way to lower record-high gas prices.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper notes that ethanol prices have been nearly $1 per gallon lower than gasoline prices at wholesale terminals where gasoline is blended which brings down the price of the fuel sold to consumers at the pump. If E15 replaced just 30 percent of the E10 currently being sold in the United States, the nation could entirely replace the amount of gasoline supplied annually from Russian petroleum imports.

Voters also expressed support for increasing the production of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which can run on fuel containing up to 85 percent ethanol (E85), with 69 percent saying it is important for the U.S. government to incentivize automakers to increase FFV output. Finally, the Morning Consult survey showed that two-thirds of voters support the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires renewable fuels to comprise an increasing share of the nation’s fuel supply each year. READ MORE

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: The Renewable Fuels Association was thrilled to see the major trade associations representing fuel retailers jump aboard this effort last month, with a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, urging EPA to use its waiver authority under the Clean Air Act to immediately authorize year-round E15 sales. “This common-sense step,” they note, “would provide much-needed price relief at the pump while enhancing America’s energy security and improving gasoline’s emissions characteristics.”

These three associations speak for a significant portion of the retail fuel space and their perspectives are considered highly credible. NACS represents the convenience store industry, with more than 1,500 retail and 1,600 supplier companies as members; NATSO represents 5,000 travel plazas and truck stops nationwide; and SIGMA represents a diverse membership of independent chain retailers and marketers of motor fuel. Together, these three associations represent over 90 percent of motor fuel sales in the United States.

...

In a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult, three in four American voters support expanding the availability of E15 as a way to replace petroleum imports from Russia.

As this country’s leading association representing ethanol producers, we can’t help but agree with our retailer peers: ”This is a unique situation where the Administration’s energy security and geopolitical objectives are fully aligned with its environmental priorities. Allowing year-round E15 would make the U.S. more energy secure, enhancing the nation’s geopolitical leverage all the while improving gasoline’s emissions characteristics.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Western Producer: The White House announced March 31 that it will release one million barrels of oil per day from its strategic reserves for the next six months and support increased domestic production of oil and natural gas in response to the energy crisis.

That is not the message that the renewable fuels sector wanted. It has been lobbying hard for the government to allow for the year-round sale of blends containing 15 percent ethanol (E15).

“The White House is actively considering an E15 fix to deliver relief at the pump but today’s announcement made no mention of homegrown fuels,” a coalition of renewable fuels advocates said in a news release.

“It was just a stop-gap release of oil reserves and a promise of more mineral extraction down the road.”

The renewable fuel folks wanted an executive order overturning a 2021 court decision that reversed year-round access for E15 starting this summer.

The court ruling allows the blend to be sold in the winter but not during the summer months when fuel consumption is higher.

The renewable fuel lobby says E15 saves drivers more than 30 cents U.S. per gallon at the pumps and notes that there is a record surplus of ethanol in the U.S. today.

Corn grower leaders from 19 U.S. states recently sent an open letter to Biden calling on his administration to use an emergency waiver or executive order to reinstate year-round E15.

...

“If we replaced just one-third of regular E10 fuel sales with E15, we would fully replace all gasoline from previously imported Russian oil.”

...

The Home Front Energy Independence Act is new legislation that was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It would make the sale of year-round E15 blends permanent, create a tax credit for higher biofuel blends, streamline E15 labelling, provide funding for E15 infrastructure, extend the biodiesel tax credit for three more years and ban imports of Russian petroleum products. READ MORE