Candidates Reveal Biofuel Stands in FB Survey

2024 Election Agriculture (USDA)Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)Deliver Dispense Federal Agency/Executive Branch Federal Legislation Federal Regulation grants Green Jobs Infrastructure Opinions Policy

September 13, 2024

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) The American Farm Bureau Federation asked Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump about their priorities for American agriculture in a questionnaire that included their opinions on renewable fuels.

Farm Bureau asked the question, “As president, would you support an all-of-the-above strategy that encourages the domestic production and use of all available forms of energy?”

The Harris-Walz campaign response:
Vice President Harris cast the deciding vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided nearly $10 billion for rural renewable energy infrastructure—and made the largest investment in rural electrification in nearly 90 years. This historic legislation also included more than $2 billion in investments for the Rural Energy for America program, which provides loans and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to build renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. The Inflation Reduction Act is also increasing domestic biofuels, boosting high-quality job opportunities across rural America and enlisting agriculture as a pivotal tool to fight climate change.

Former President Trump’s response:
Yes, a Trump Administration will increase domestic energy production across the board, streamline permitting, and end market-distorting restrictions on Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal. I will lower energy prices even below the record lows achieved during my first term. No president has ever fought harder for our farmers than I did. I issued a rule declaring that E15 would be made available all year round. In addition, I dramatically increased the number of fueling stations where E15 could be sold across the country, by letting them use the existing pumps. I will cancel every Kamala-Biden policy that is brutalizing our farmers. We won’t just increase Ethanol production in our own country, we will make it our mission to export ethanol all over the world.

Other topics on the questionnaire included crop insurance, taxes, labor, regulatory reform, international trade, sustainability, and biotechnology. READ MORE

Related articles

Take Our Poll: 5 Questions Ahead of the Presidential Election (AgWeb)
Where Do Harris and Trump Stand On Ag Policy Issues? (AgWeb)
RFA CEO Discusses Ethanol Policy Issues in Election Year (Energy.AgWired.com)
Ethanol group optimistic Trump would maintain climate law credits -- The Renewable Fuels Association is pressing the Trump campaign to save Inflation Reduction Act provisions friendly to biofuels. (Politico Pro Greenwire)
Biden’s climate law got zero GOP votes. Some Republicans think its energy tax credits are worth saving (The Hill)
When Republican leaders were trying to advance a party-line debt limit bill through the House, they had to change the bill to preserve tax credits for biofuels in order to prevent a revolt from Midwestern lawmakers. (E&E Daily)
RFA concerned election outcome could impact certain biofuel tax credits (Brownfield Ag News)
Biden climate chief says there isn't much spending GOP can claw back from IRA (Politico Pro)
Kerry: U.S. must accelerate fossil fuel phaseout (Axios)
Ethanol Report on Election Issues (Energy.AgWired.com)
Presidential Poll Results: How Farmers and Economists View Candidates’ Impact on Agriculture (AgWeb)
Trump has vowed to gut climate rules. Oil lobbyists have a plan ready. As companies fall short on methane emission reductions, a top trade group has crafted a road map for dismantling key Biden administration rules. (Washington Post)
Which Presidential Candidate Is More Likely to Tame Inflation or Support Farm Policies and Biofuels? (AgWeb)
Presidential Poll Results: How Farmers and Economists View Candidates’ Impact on Agriculture (AgWeb)
US Election 2024: How a Trump win could reshape sustainable aviation (Sustainability in the Air)

Excerpt from AgWeb: Based on the presidential candidate's responses to the American Farm Bureau Federation questionnaire, Jim Wiesemeyer, Farm Journal Washington correspondent, says Republican Donald Trump supports increasing commodity price supports, improving crop insurance and focusing on innovation to stay ahead of China. Trump also pledges to lower energy bills and end Biden’s net-zero emissions policies.

Democrat Kamala Harris highlights the Biden administration’s initiatives to protect small farmers from unfair competition, citing Trump’s previous proposals for deep cuts to critical farming programs.

We'd like to know which candidate you believe will have a more positive impact on the following:

farm policy programs
trade
biofuels policies
inflation
agriculture overall READ MORE

Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: No matter what happens in November, there will be a new president in January and a new administration that could be radically different than the current one, and that could mean a big difference in the outcome of policy issues for the ethanol industry.

In this edition of the Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper discusses with reporters some of the key issues that could carry over into a new administration, including 45Z and other tax credit programs under the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA’s tailpipe standards, year-round E15, the Renewable Fuel Standard, and trade. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro Greenwire: A second Trump administration would likely preserve parts of the Biden administration’s climate law friendly to biofuels, an ethanol industry group said Wednesday.

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, told reporters he expects a “more surgical” approach to scaling back the Inflation Reduction Act if Donald Trump becomes president again, based on increasing calls from congressional Republicans to save certain clean-energy provisions beneficial to their districts and states.

“They’re seeing investments or big plans for investments in their districts,” Cooper said of Republican lawmakers who’ve cautioned that measures like biofuel tax credits in the IRA shouldn’t be repealed. Cooper spoke with reporters on a conference call to outline the industry group's priorities ahead of the November elections.

The law includes incentives for sustainable aviation fuel made from crops and agricultural waste, as well as tax credits for fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including biofuels.

A handful of Republican lawmakers urged the House GOP leadership in August to preserve clean energy tax credits, and the sentiment appears to be growing even as Trump has promised to undo the IRA and claw back unspent funds. READ MORE

Excerpts from The Hill: The law, which included a historic investment in climate-friendly energy sources, got no GOP votes when it passed in 2022.

But now even Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is saying he may want to preserve some of the credits.

“You’ve got to use a scalpel and not a sledgehammer, because there’s a few provisions in there that have helped overall,” Johnson told CNBC.

His comments come about a month after 18 moderate members of his party said in a letter last month that they also want to preserve some of the credits.

“These tax credits are important for my district on the energy sector specifically, so I want to make sure that those are preserved,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), one of the signatories, told The Hill last week.

Asked whether he would push back on any efforts for a wholesale repeal, Ciscomani answered affirmatively.

“I’m always going to advocate for my district. I’m always going to fight for what my district needs and what’s a priority there,” Ciscomani said.

However, Johnson indicated Tuesday that he also wants to repeal at least some of the credits. Releasing a plan for the first 100 days of a potential second Trump term, Johnson’s office said Republicans would “repeal wasteful Green New Deal tax credits and anti-energy regulations.”

The top House Republican also said “we will cut the wasteful Green New Deal spending in the Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act that is costing twice as much as it was advertised, and is sending our taxpayer dollars to China.”

He did not specify which credits he wanted to repeal, and his office declined to clarify.

Ahead of November’s elections, the party is in a difficult spot regarding the law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The first year after the IRA’s 2022 passage saw investment in renewables equivalent to the prior eight years combined, according to an industry report.

Where project locations were known, 80 percent of those projects were being built in Republican-held districts, despite the party’s lack of support for the legislation.

It seems members are feeling the heat, as last month, 18 of them told Johnson that “prematurely repealing energy tax credits, particularly those which were used to justify investments that already broke ground, would undermine private investments and stop development that is already ongoing.”

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who led the letter, said last week that he preferred to “have a discussion” about the credits.

“The Speaker has told certain [committee] chairmen to work on reconciliation. That’s going to be part of it, I imagine,” Garbarino told The Hill. “There should be discussions about, instead of just saying we’re taking everything back, let industry be able to come in and say whether individual tax credits are working or whether they’re not working.”

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) said specifically that he’d like to maintain the credits that bolster nuclear energy and carbon capture, a technology that captures and stores fossil fuel plants’ planet-warming emissions.

“I think it’s going to be very similar to the Affordable Care Act … where in the end it’s not repealed but changes are made to make it better,” Curtis said last week.

Even some supporters of a full repeal, including Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), agreed with that assessment, casting doubt on whether getting rid of the bill was plausible.

...

When Republican leaders were trying to advance a party-line debt limit bill through the House, they had to change the bill to preserve tax credits for biofuels in order to prevent a revolt from Midwestern lawmakers. READ MORE

Excerpt from Axios: The fossil fuel industry's push for natural gas and carbon capture technology is causing the world to fall short on climate goals, former presidential climate envoy John Kerry told Axios.

Why it matters: Recent global climate accords have dictated that countries need to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and slow the warming planet.

"We're not doing that—we're not implementing," Kerry said Monday at Axios House Climate Week/UN General Assembly in New York City.
He blamed a "massive movement in the fossil fuel industry right now" to brand natural gas as part of a green future when, in reality, methane emissions are 20 to 80 times more damaging to the climate than CO2, he said.

Between the lines: The debate over the role of natural gas has becoming a political lightning rod in the 2024 election, which could hinge on winning the gas-rich battleground state of Pennsylvania. READ MORE

Excerpt from AgWeb:

Ahead of the election, the October Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor asked economists which presidential candidate will be better for agriculture on taming inflation, providing more certainty on farm policy, as well as more likely to support biofuels policies. The Monthly Monitor is an anonymous survey of 70 ag economists from across the U.S.

On the question of which candidate would be more effective at taming inflation, 53 percent said Donald Trump.
When it comes to providing more certainty on farm policy and crop insurance, 61 percent of economists said Trump will provide more certainty.
However, when looking at policies that benefit biofuels, 53 percent of economists said Kamala Harris.

...

45Z and Biofuels Tax Credit in Question

Today, there is no clarity on 45Z that’s causing soybean processors like Cargill and Bunge to possibly slow or even idle production by the end of the year.

“We have industry looking to shut down production of biofuel. If we don’t get the 45Z requirements here released soon, and that doesn’t look likely, unfortunately, that’s going to hurt demand for soybean crushing for soybeans per se,” Suderman said.

“The fact that we don’t have those today, I think, is impeding investment in the sector. And people are asking for that before they spend millions of dollars to do that. And I think that has been a hiccup,” said Brown. READ MORE