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by Humeyra Pamuk and Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) President Donald Trump, faced with mounting anger in the farm belt over policies that allowed oil refineries to use less corn-based ethanol, is set to meet with cabinet members on Thursday to discuss ways to boost biofuel demand, four sources familiar with the matter said.
White House
by Brian Dabbs (National Journal) Democratic presidential candidates are exploiting a controversial White House ethanol policy to try to generate support among President Trump’s staunchest backers. The Environmental Protection Agency waived ethanol blending requirements for more than 30 petroleum refiners earlier this month, in a move that continues to infuriate
August 22, 2019
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by Alex Guillén (Politico’s Morning Energy) The Trump administration is considering reallocating the volumes of ethanol that were reduced when it allowed dozens of refineries to waive their Renewable Fuel Standard requirements to blend the biofuel with gasoline, four industry sources with knowledge of the discussions told Pro’s Eric Wolff.
August 22, 2019
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by Michael McGrady (Inside Sources) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing a legal challenge from a coalition of biofuel and agriculture industry groups regarding the agency’s proposal for reduced renewable fuel volumes. According to a press release from the coalition, the organizations filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
August 21, 2019
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by Alex Guillén (Politico’s Morning Energy) EPA’s internal watchdog is being asked to determine how the agency decided to grant the vast majority of exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard that oil refiners have requested. EPA approved 31 petitions for waivers from the 2018 requirements, while rejecting just six, and
August 21, 2019
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by Robert Rapier (Forbes) … My proposed solution is for the Midwestern states to band together to provide sufficient state incentives to develop a major Midwest corridor where E85 — a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline — is the primary fuel of choice for consumers. There is enough
August 19, 2019
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by By Todd Neeley and Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) …The president sided with oil refiners over ethanol producers and corn farmers, just two months after reiterating his support for ethanol at a rally held at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to celebrate the approval of year-round
August 19, 2019
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by Andy Knight (The Herald Bulletin) Officials with POET Biorefining in Alexandria are monitoring the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, which has resulted in significant tariffs on U.S. ethanol shipments to that country. POET employs more than 40 people in Madison County and, according to the company’s
August 16, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) A phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump last week ended a nearly two-month-long review of the nation’s biofuels program, three sources familiar with the matter said, with the White House siding in favor of oil refiners over corn growers. Trump gave Andrew Wheeler, head of the U.S.
August 16, 2019
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by John McCormick and Jesse Naranjo (Wall Street Journal) … “He’s doing the right thing,” said Leo Balk, a fifth-generation farmer who raises corn, soybeans, oats, beef and dairy cows on about 300 acres near New Hampton, Iowa. “It hurts, but his concept is absolutely right.” One of the reasons farmers
August 15, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) EPA might have a new name in some circles – Exemptions for Petroleum Agency – thanks to the 31 small refinery waivers issued on Friday which has the biofuels and agriculture industries reeling after promises made by President Trump to look into why big oil
August 12, 2019
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(GreenTechMedia) An analysis published Wednesday by clean energy advocacy group Energy Innovation found that if the administration does eliminate California’s waiver, costs from the rule change would total $400 billion in 2018 dollars by 2050. By 2035, Energy Innovation projects that transportation emissions will be at least 10 percent higher than
August 8, 2019
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by Hallie Gu and Tom Daly (Reuters/Zawya) Beijing is honouring its pledges to buy U.S. agricultural products, state media cited China’s state planning body saying, dismissing an accusation from U.S. President Donald Trump that it had not met purchasing promises in the sector. Trump had said on Thursday that Beijing had
August 7, 2019
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by Rachel Gamarski and Fabiana Batista (Bloomberg) Decision may be taken before tax-free quota expires end-August; Any tariff on U.S. ethanol would hurt bilateral trade talks — As China turns its back on American ethanol in a lingering trade spat, Brazil is considering opening its doors to U.S. biofuel. — Brazilian authorities are
August 6, 2019
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA submitted its final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 2. OMB review marks a final stage before the public release of the
August 6, 2019
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by Rebecca Beitsch (The Hill) Thirteen states filed suit against the Trump administration Friday, arguing it was breaking the law by cutting penalties for automakers that do not meet Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. The suit, led by California’s and New York’s attorneys general, goes after a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) rule that
August 5, 2019
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by Dennis Lundell (The Cap Times) Dear Editor: With the recent move to lift restrictions on E15 by President Trump, the agricultural community has an opportunity to build America’s economy with more renewable biofuels. And that means less reliance on foreign oil, cleaner air and more income in rural communities.
August 2, 2019
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by Sean Pratt (Western Producer) An analyst doesn’t think China will delay implementing its E10 policy until there is adequate domestic capacity because the policy is being driven by a desire to clean up the country’s air before hosting the 2022 Olympics. Moving to a 10 percent gasoline blend by 2020
August 2, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defended his agency’s expanded use of waivers exempting refineries from the country’s biofuel law during a closed-door meeting with farm state senators last week, arguing the program has had no negative impact on ethanol demand, according to
July 31, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw, Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) The U.S. ethanol industry is about to break under the weight of the Trump Administration’s trade war with China and the surge in the number of small refineries exempted from the nation’s biofuel laws, said Todd Becker, CEO of Green Plains (GPRE.O). The U.S. ethanol industry
July 29, 2019
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by Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (Washington Post) The agreement could have vehicles hit 50 miles per gallon on average by 2026 — Four automakers from three continents have struck a deal with California to produce fleets that are more fuel-efficient in coming years, undercutting one of the Trump administration’s most aggressive climate policy
July 25, 2019
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(Office of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)) Contrary to assertions by the EPA, the Energy Department confirmed in a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that the EPA has issued so-called “economic hardship” exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to small refineries, often owned by billion-dollar oil companies, even when the Energy Department
July 24, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk (National Post/Reuters) Small U.S. refineries plan to sue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 60 days, if the agency by then fails to issue its decisions on 2018 petitions for waivers from the nation’s biofuel laws, refiners said in a letter on Wednesday. … Since Trump took office, the EPA
July 19, 2019
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(DTN Progressive Farmer Washington Insider) The notice of proposed rulemaking for the reset of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is still a ways off as there are now additional meetings scheduled on the topic at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which is currently reviewing the EPA proposal on the
July 16, 2019
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by Chris Hubbuch (Wisconsin State Journal) … “There’s (a) civil war within the Republican Party,” said Scott Irwin, chairman of agricultural marketing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It’s pitting two significant Republican constituencies of the president and neither one is now in a position to issue any kinds of
July 15, 2019
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by Jessica Campisi (The Hill) The Trump administration announced late Friday that it will formally suspend an Obama-era regulation that penalized automakers that didn’t meet fuel-efficiency requirements, Reuters reports. After Congress ordered federal agencies to adjust existing penalties in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued rules that more than
July 15, 2019
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by Rebecca Beitsch (The Hill) Republicans on Wednesday launched an environment-minded conservation caucus aimed at battling the perception that their party doesn’t care about climate change. Dubbed the Republican Roosevelt Conservation Caucus after National Park Service founder President Teddy Roosevelt, the bicameral group lists public land access, water quality and ocean
July 12, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump’s request for a review of the administration’s expanded use of biofuel waivers for oil refiners is holding up its decisions on 2018 applications, according to three sources familiar with the matter, two of whom said Trump may soon host a meeting on the
July 11, 2019
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by Tara Golshan (Vox) Climate activists around the world are pushing governments to treat global warming as an emergency. — … On Tuesday, they got three prominent progressive allies in the United States to publicly join their cause: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). The lawmakers
July 10, 2019
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by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times) The opposition to one of President Trump’s most consequential regulatory rollbacks — a plan to weaken pollution standards for automobiles nationwide — widened on Tuesday when 24 governors, including three Republicans, urged the president to abandon his plan. The governors’ plea adds to a chorus of criticism from an unlikely mix
July 10, 2019
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(American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers) Today (July 8, 2019), AFPM launched an advertising campaign asking President Trump to keep his promise to protect U.S. refiners from unchecked ethanol mandates that threaten to kill our jobs. This campaign comes on the heels of increasing calls from the ethanol industry to eliminate small
July 9, 2019
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by James Osborne (Houston Chronicle) The future of an exemption shielding oil refining companies from a federal mandate that they blend corn-based ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply is looking increasingly uncertain amid increasing political pressure on the Trump administration ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Months after the Environmental Protection Agency,
July 8, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In line with today’s top story on the EPA’s RVOs proposal for 2020, here’s the Advanced Biofuels Association’s take from ABLC 2019 on it all from a history perspective. Mike McAdams, President of Advanced Biofuels Association, looks back at the history of EPA’s small refinery exemptions going
July 8, 2019
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(Associated Press) California picked up an important partner its long-running dispute with the Trump administration over vehicle emissions and fuel economy by announcing a deal with Canada to work on pollution reductions. The agreement comes as the state is in a standoff with its own federal government on the same issues,
July 3, 2019
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by Ed Lotterman (Bismarck Tribune) Unless National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo manage to gin up a war with Iran, the terrible crop conditions across much of the Midwest this year means that some fuel ethanol distillers will be shutting down operations. Quibbles about the
July 1, 2019
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by Dino Grandoni (Washington Post) Democratic contenders for president are trying to make climate change a top electoral issue. But one Trump appointee who recently left the Environmental Protection Agency wants to make sure it is a winning issue for her former boss instead. Since leaving the EPA in February, Mandy Gunasekara formed what
June 20, 2019
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by @AmyForAmerica (Medium.com) U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar released a plan outlining the more than 100 concrete steps she will take in her first 100 days as President of the United States to take on the biggest challenges we face at home and abroad. … Through executive action, Senator Klobuchar will begin to
June 19, 2019
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by Emily Moon (Pacific Standard) It could be years before farmers see any gains from the rollback of E15 restrictions—or before oil interests and environmental groups see any losses. — … For ethanol’s biggest opponents, the deregulation could usher in a whole host of plagues, including environmental hazards and falling oil profits. While
June 13, 2019
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by Mario Parker and Jennifer A Dlouhy (Bloomberg) Ethanol, the intoxicating alcohol found in beer, wine and liquor, has been powering automobiles in the U.S. since the era of the Model T more than a century ago. Since the 1970s, when oil became more expensive and subject to international disputes — and
June 12, 2019
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by Brittany De Lea (Fox Business) President Trump is in Iowa on Tuesday, just weeks after he lifted restrictions on ethanol – which could be a boon to both farmers and some drivers. At the end of May, the Trump administration announced it would allow for the year-round sale of gasoline with higher concentrations
June 12, 2019
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by Miranda Green (The Hill) President Trump gave rallygoers in Iowa on Tuesday a sign of what might come in 2020, speaking to them about ethanol while taking hard jabs at Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Speaking in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to celebrate his administration’s decision to allow 15 percent of ethanol to be mixed
June 12, 2019
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by Miranda Green (The Hill) The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) is recommending a review of the agency’s decision to roll back a prominent Obama-era policy on auto emissions. The independent group made up of researchers and scientists wrote in a May 18 memorandum first obtained by Bloomberg that the department’s justification for
June 12, 2019
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by Meghan Gordon (S&P Global Platts) EPA says on track to release final volumes on time; Trump to tour Iowa ethanol plant Tuesday; Warren criticizes small refinery waivers — The US Environmental Protection Agency is close to releasing its proposal for how much biofuel refiners must blend into the US transportation fuel supply next
June 11, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) Joe Biden may have an ethanol problem. The former U.S. vice president has pledged support for advanced biofuels as part of his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But Biden, who leads the crowded Democratic field in opinion polls in Iowa and nationally, faces lingering questions in the
June 11, 2019
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by Richard Valdmanis (Reuters) The main U.S. refining industry association said on Monday it sued to block the Trump administration’s effort to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline, arguing the move exceeded the administration’s authority. The legal challenge from the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) association escalated a
June 11, 2019
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by Marianne Lavelle (Inside Climate Today) The rule opened new ways for the fossil fuel industry to challenge science-based policy. One group is using it to try to shatter the foundation of climate policy. — … The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank and steadfast ally of the
June 7, 2019
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by John Bowden (The Hill) Many top-selling automakers around the world sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday urging the Trump administration to scrap plans to roll back fuel efficiency standards set during the Obama administration. In a letter signed by 17 major automakers including General Motors, Ford and Toyota, the companies wrote that
June 7, 2019
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by Eric Pfeiffer (Hoosier Ag Today) The EPA announced Friday morning that they have met the deadline for the summer driving season to allow year-round sales of E15, a fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol. “Corn farmers have been long-time advocates of higher blends of ethanol such as E15, touting its benefits to
May 31, 2019
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by Jennifer A Dlouhy and Mario Parker (Bloomberg) Agency initially planned to bar some traders and cap positions; Rush to propel high-ethanol fuel by June 1 complicated effort — The Environmental Protection Agency is poised to jettison proposed trading restrictions on a $5.2 billion market for biofuel compliance credits in a coming rule, casting aside
May 29, 2019
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by Gary Truitt (Hoosier Ag Today) … While we are struggling to export corn, there is a market that is ready buy U.S. corn just in a different form. Ethanol exports have been booming and could expand even more if the EPA would allow more ethanol production. Its slow pace on
May 28, 2019
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by James Hohmann (Washington Post) … Trump proceeded to tout initiatives he’s taken to help corn growers. He noted that he directed the EPA to make it easier to sell more ethanol in vehicle fuel, lifting summertime fueling restrictions on E15 gasoline, which means it contains as much as 15 percent
May 28, 2019
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Humeyra Pamuk and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to unveil a narrowed-down version of its proposed biofuel credit market reform this month after regulators concluded many of the agency’s initial ideas required more time to study, according to four people briefed on the matter. … It
May 24, 2019
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(DTN Progressive Farmer) EPA has sent its proposed plan for a reset of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), one of the final stages before the plan will be released. There are no indications regarding levels EPA is proposing at this stage for 2020,
May 23, 2019
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by Mario Parker and Jennifer Jacobs (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump is considering visiting an ethanol refinery in Iowa in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, a signal that the administration will fulfill a pledge to permit the year-round sale of high-ethanol gasoline sought by corn farmers in the state.
May 23, 2019
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by Katy Siddall (River Cities’ Reader) New York Mayor Bill de Blasio toured the POET Biorefinery in Gowrie, Iowa and discussed the benefits of value-added agriculture in rural America. De Blasio was joined by Secretary Tom Vilsack, who served both as Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture under President Obama and as
May 21, 2019
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(Argus Media) Higher US biofuel blending mandates cannot make up for lost export trade opportunities, according to farm groups caught in the crossfire of the country’s trade war with China. US independent refiners show little concern that the administration will blunt sharply lower exports to China by pressuring more renewable fuels
May 21, 2019
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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) Taxes and Bans: That was the threat California’s top air regulator leveled Thursday in the ongoing war over the future of the state’s aggressive auto efficiency rules. The Trump administration is seeking to dramatically roll back Obama-era greenhouse gas standards for vehicles, but California
May 17, 2019
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by Ayenat Mersie (Reuters) The U.S.-China trade war is hurting the U.S. ethanol industry “badly,” Mike Dwyer, chief economist of the U.S. Grains Council, said on Wednesday at an event at New York Sugar week: * “Without the tariff protection we would probably supply 90-plus percent of all (ethanol) import needs
May 17, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The Trump administration made it easier for oil refineries to get waivers from the nation’s biofuel law at least four months before a 2017 court decision it often cites to justify the move to the corn lobby, and the move was motivated by a desire to save
May 16, 2019
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(Raymond James & Associates) … The EPA is moving forward on year-round E15, while concurrently reforming RINs. As a long-standing political matter, federal ethanol policy (under the umbrella of the Renewable Fuel Standard) involves divisions not along party lines but rather regional lines. This is why, for example, Sens. Ted Cruz from Texas
May 14, 2019
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by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In China, Bloomberg reports that additional tariffs on US biodiesel imports are among the latest retaliation measures in the ongoing US-China trade war. Even though China imports very little biodiesel from the US, it will still increase the tariff to 25% from the current 10%. China also
May 14, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (C)onsider this for now a Digested summary of the (Washington, DC) news you can use, as short as we can make it so that we return you to the business of building the bioeconomy that will, increasingly in the now and surely in the
May 14, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk, Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed increasing the volume of biofuels refiners must blend into their fuel annually to 20.04 billion gallons in 2020, from 19.92 billion gallons in 2019, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The proposed mandate, now under review
May 10, 2019
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA has delivered a proposed rule to set 2020 renewable blending obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The proposed rule also includes the 2021 RVO for biomass-based diesel and “other changes” to the
May 8, 2019
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(Growth Energy) Growth Energy, the nation’s leading association of ethanol producers and supporters, filed comments with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of a proposed rule allowing year-round sales of E15 – gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol. “Unless the EPA acts quickly, the summer market for E15 will be
May 3, 2019
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(Office of Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said today the Trump Administration’s plan to go back on its promise to name which U.S. oil refineries are allowed to avoid requirements to blend renewable fuels into the nation’s fuel supply could ultimately contribute to job losses across rural
May 3, 2019
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(USA Today) It’s not as bold as the Green New Deal but House Democrats on Thursday are poised to adopt the most significant climate legislation in a decade: A bill that would prevent the Trump administration from exiting the international Paris Agreement aimed at global warming. The Climate Action Now Act “is a first step to get Congress off
May 2, 2019
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by Jennifer Rubin (Washington Post) A new report confirms that President Trump is causing the most pain in areas of the country that were the most supportive of his 2016 campaign. Personal income for farmers fell by the most in three years in the first quarter, as losses to U.S. agriculture mount
May 1, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw, Chris Prentice, Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has suspended work on its plan to publish the names of refineries securing exemptions from federal biofuels law after receiving blowback from the White House and parts of the oil industry, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
May 1, 2019
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by Curtis Ellis (WND) … Last week, members of the International Union of Operating Engineers stood alongside President Trump at a union job-training center as he signed executive orders to expedite the construction of oil and gas pipelines and energy infrastructure projects, including Keystone XL, Dakota Access, Line 3 in Wisconsin and
May 1, 2019
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(Urban Air Initiative) The Urban Air Initiative submitted comments to the EPA supporting the agency’s proposal to make E15 available year round. While this is a critical step forward and needs to happen, UAI asked EPA to not stop at E15 and provided detailed analysis as to why the law allows higher
May 1, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw, Chris Prentice and Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has suspended work on its plan to publish the names of refineries securing exemptions from federal biofuels law after receiving blowback from the White House and parts of the oil industry, according to four sources familiar with the
April 30, 2019
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by Miranda Green (The Hill) … Asked who she (Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board (CARB)) thought would benefit the most from the Trump rule change, which she has argued automakers are largely opposed to, Nichols points to the fossil fuel industry. “It has been said, and I believe
April 30, 2019
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by John Siciliano and Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) The deadline for comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed plan to allow year-round sales of 15% ethanol fuel closes at midnight, but neither side in the fight — that is, the oil and renewable fuel industries — wants the plan to move ahead
April 30, 2019
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by Zack Budryk and Miranda Green (The Hill) Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) on Monday announced a sweeping new sustainability plan touted as the city’s version of the Green New Deal. The plan calls for 80 percent of the city’s electricity to come from renewable resources and 80 percent of its cars
April 30, 2019
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(MENAFN) The ethanol market is splitting in two, which is having a big impact on the crops used to make the biofuel: corn in the US, and sugar in Brazil. There’s a massive ethanol glut in the US. That’s helping to drive corn prices lower. July futures are trading at a record
April 29, 2019
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by Alan Guebert (Beatrice Daily Sun) … “U.S. farmers, particularly cornbelt farmers, have gotten a really bad deal from the Trump Administration on the biofuels front.” Both statements are true, according to Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois who, word-for-word, offered the latter one. On April
April 26, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … ABLC 2019 kicked off on Wednesday with about 540 delegates in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Department of Agriculture building complete with secret service protection and escorts for some big-name super star speakers, with a pretty exciting vibe in the room. In ABLC terms,
April 8, 2019
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by Bob Egelko (San Francisco Chronicle) California’s Air Resources Board sued the Trump administration Friday for information that might support the federal government’s claim that its proposed weakening of auto emissions standards would save lives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency introduced regulations last August to roll back fuel-efficiency standards adopted under
April 8, 2019
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by Cindy Zimmerman (AgWired.com) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was honored at the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) in Washington DC this week with the Holmberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in Bioenergy. Accepting the award, Grassley said he was honored, but noted that his “work’s not done yet.” The Iowa senator, who has been
April 5, 2019
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by Jordan Godwin (Oil Price Information Service) With about two months to go before the start of the summer driving season, ethanol advocates are growing increasingly worried that EPA’s decision to combine in the same proposed rulemaking changes to how Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits are trading and a volatility waiver for
April 2, 2019
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by J.D. Scholten (The Hill) … To win back the White House, Democrats can’t just rely on “Whole Foods” districts of educated, affluent suburbanites. Democrats can do well in “Dollar General” districts if they show up and address the issues. No one gave me much of a chance when I ran against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), but
April 1, 2019
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(Ag News Wire) The Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing Friday on proposed regulatory changes related to retail sales of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15) and the renewable identification number (RIN) compliance system Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. Biofuels advocates, organization representatives and company officials testified at the hearing about the proposal
March 29, 2019
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by David Kruse (The Daily Reporter) I was told by a director of the Iowa Corn Growers that at a meeting they discussed my recent reports where I had noted that the National Corn Growers Association is dropping the ball in pushing back against President Donald Trump personally on renewable identification
March 29, 2019
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by Merrill Matthews (The Hill/Institute for Policy Innovation) … President Trump wants to roll back unattainable Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards imposed by President Obama. And he wants those revised fuel efficiency ratings to apply nationwide, including California, according to The Hill. But environmentalists and the Golden State are rejecting the change. They
March 28, 2019
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by Clare Pennington, Izham Ahmad, Steven McGinn (ICIS) Trans-shipments of ethanol from the US to China are taking place in renewed efforts to thwart US-China tariffs, including ship-to-ship transfers, several sources in Asia and Europe have confirmed. Importing US ethanol into China carries a penalty of up to 70%, one of a
March 28, 2019
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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) — The Green New Deal resolution sunk in the Senate on Tuesday. Now Senate Democrats will unveil their own Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, while House Republicans press ahead with their own push for a floor vote on the resolution. … The Senate may
March 27, 2019
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by John Siciliano and Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) The Trump administration is quietly negotiating an energy partnership with Brazil, the largest economy in South America, to encourage more oil and natural gas production by tapping the expertise of U.S. energy firms, with the ultimate goal of lowering energy prices across the Western
March 22, 2019
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by Scott Waldman (E&E News) President Trump’s top economic adviser is not backing away from his belief that a carbon tax would be an effective way to address greenhouse gas emissions. Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, has expressed support for a carbon tax for years. In
March 21, 2019
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by Gerald F. Seib (Wall Street Journal) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t exactly a hotbed of pro-tax sentiment. So when the chamber advocates for a tax increase, it’s worth sitting up to take notice. That’s what’s happening now. Chamber President Thomas Donohue told Congress this month that the chamber advocates
March 21, 2019
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by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, MercoPress reports that the US won’t budge on allowing Brazil to export more limes that are facing phytosanitary trade barriers until the issue of the ethanol import quota and tariff is dealt with. When US ethanol exports pass 150 million liters per quarter, a 30%
March 19, 2019
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by Art Cullen (The Guardian) Here in farming country we have the opportunity to rethink our approach to renewable energy and food production — … Meanwhile, we’re losing our precious topsoil and polluting our rivers – killing the Gulf of Mexico in the process – as we chase ever-higher corn yields in
March 15, 2019
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by Ron Kotrba (Biomass Magazine) U.S. EPA retroactively granted five new small refinery exemptions for 2017, releasing them from their obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The five new small refinery exemptions reduced the 2017 renewable volume obligation (RVO) for biomass-based diesel by an additional 48 million gallons. Previously granted exemptions
March 15, 2019
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by Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) The Trump administration won’t be returning to the negotiating table with California before finalizing a plan to roll back Obama-era fuel efficiency standards, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Monday. Wheeler, in an interview with the Washington Examiner, said the Trump administration won’t compromise on its final
March 12, 2019
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by George Cahlink (E&E News) … The decision means EPA would face a 31 percent cut over current spending, DOE an 11 percent reduction and Interior a 14 percent decrease, budget documents show. … The White House released only the broad outlines of its spending plans for agencies today; the more detailed appendix
March 12, 2019
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by Jeremy Martin (Union of Concerned Scientists) … The largest source of pollution in Washington state is transportation, which is another way to say burning petroleum-based fuels like gasoline and diesel. Tackling emissions from transportation requires policies that focus on vehicles and transportation fuels. Broad economy-wide measures like carbon pricing or
March 9, 2019
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by Meghan Gordon (S&P Global Platts) Even if the Trump administration completes a policy change allowing year-round sales of higher ethanol blends in time for this summer’s driving season, any major increase in demand may not materialize until summer 2020 because fuel stations saw the promised policy change as too uncertain
March 8, 2019
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by Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (Washington Post) As the Trump administration races to roll back Obama’s most ambitious climate rule, it lobbies to get industry on board — Trump officials thought they were doing the auto industry a favor when they decided to freeze gas mileage standards. But automakers aren’t so sure. To
March 8, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Mark Pomykacz, from Federal Appraisal LLC and a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting offers this illuminating overview of the U.S.-China trade war impacts, cash flows, and values in the biofuels industry, and more. READ MORE U.S./China Trade Deal Could Be a Big and Fast Boost to
March 7, 2019
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(US Department of Agriculture) The federal Biomass Research and Development (BR&D) Board today unveiled a multi-agency strategy to accelerate innovative technologies that harness the nation’s biomass resources for affordable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. The Bioeconomy Initiative: Implementation Framework was developed by the B&RD Board – an interagency collaborative which is co-chaired by the
March 5, 2019
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(Office of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)) Today (February 27, 2019), U.S. Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Chuck Grassley of Iowa introduced the Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act of 2019(S.581), legislation that would remove burdensome regulations on domestic energy production. “The Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act provides new economic opportunity for Kentucky farmers
March 1, 2019
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by Mario Parker and Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Bloomberg) CVR Energy Inc., backed by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, saved $189 million under the U.S. biofuels mandate last year. That’s largely thanks to a campaign he helped ignite to lower costs for compliance. CVR Energy, an independent oil refiner majority owned by Icahn Enterprises
February 26, 2019
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by Ron Lamberty (American Coalition for Ethanol) Retailer interest in E15 increased over the past few months, with many retailers believing President Donald Trump “signed something” making E15 legal year-round at an event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in October. We’ve explained there wasn’t any law or rule put into place at the
February 26, 2019
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by Jennifer A Dlouhy and Mario Parker (Bloomberg) EPA will propose several options, including position limits; Effort aims to quash speculation and boost transparency — The Trump administration is planning to propose an overhaul of the opaque market for trading biofuel compliance credits amid complaints of hoarding and wild price swings, according to
February 21, 2019
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by Steve White (NTV-ABC) Nebraska’s a world leader in ethanol, but global politics have the industry treading on thin ice. “Tougher together” is Chris Vincent’s motto these days. The CEO of Aurora Cooperative stands behind ethanol, even as the profitability has disappeared. … The co-op is a partner with Pacific Ethanol in
February 20, 2019
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by Juliet Eilperin and Missy Ryan (Washington Post) The White House is working to assemble a panel to assess whether climate change poses a national security threat, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, a conclusion that federal intelligence agencies have affirmed several times since President Trump took office. The proposed
February 20, 2019
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by Ryan Beene (Bloomberg) Trump administration seeking to roll back Obama-era standards; Cars are a flashpoint in tension between Trump, California — Talks between California and federal officials on vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards have broken down without a deal, three people familiar with the matter said. The Environmental Protection Agency and
February 20, 2019
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by Ben Jacobs (The Guardian) … Tim Gannon, the Democratic nominee for Iowa secretary of agriculture in 2018, told the Guardian the idea of ethanol as a dealbreaker in the state was “very much a stereotypical thing because of The West Wing and the big issue with Ted Cruz four years
February 18, 2019
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by Doug Sombke (South Dakota Farmers Union and Farmers Union Enterprise/Biofuels Digest) … The reality is that the RFS is going backwards, we have effectively capped the use of corn ethanol in the United States, and the EPA continues to play lip service to the President they work for and the public
February 13, 2019
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by John Poston MN(R) District: 09A (Brainerd Dispatch) … Over the past five years, farm income has fallen by 46 percent. One thing that all Americans can do to help is use a biofuel that we make and sell right here at home. E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend, is made from
February 12, 2019
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(Convenience Store News) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) launched an awareness campaign in support of E15 fuel with the launch of a new consumer-facing website and digital ads in The Washington Post. The campaign’s goal is to educate consumers and policymakers about the benefits of the fuel ahead of this year’s summer driving
February 12, 2019
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by Humeyra Pamuk (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering releasing its draft proposal to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline without including simultaneous measures it promised the oil industry to curb biofuel credit speculation, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The move would help the agency
February 12, 2019
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by Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) Republicans who want to combat climate change say their party should avoid the temptation of rejecting the progressive “Green New Deal” without proposing an alternative. “If the Green New Deal goes down in flames and gets totally discredited, the climate issue is still out there,” said
February 11, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) For the National Association of Convenience Stores, selling E15 is a matter of giving consumers plenty of fuel options. “We like the optionality of being able to have lots legal choices and really sell what the consumer wants to buy,” said Paige Anderson, NACS’s director
February 7, 2019
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by Chris Prentice and A. Ananthalakshmi (Reuters) In June, the High Seas tanker ship loaded up on ethanol in Texas and set off for Asia. Two months later – after a circuitous journey that included a ship-to-ship transfer and a stop in Malaysia – its cargo arrived in China, according to shipping data
February 7, 2019
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by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) … “While we have fought against this administration’s efforts to gut protections for clean air and water, roll-back efforts to address climate change and lease public lands for oil drilling and mining, infrastructure is an opportunity for everyone in Washington to work together to achieve the
February 6, 2019
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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) FUELING DEBATE: ConservAmerica Chairwoman Nan Hayworth urged National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow to “avoid or soften the negative impacts” from upcoming international rules requiring cleaner-burning shipping fuels. The Feb. 4 letter warned that “hasty deadlines” for the International Maritime Organization rule to reduce
February 6, 2019
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by Jeff Cosman (Morning Consult/Attis Industries Inc.) … And in November, a letter from the Department of Energy, the EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture to Congress laid out a plan to encourage the use of efficient and carbon-neutral products made from woody biomass. In particular, it highlighted how
February 6, 2019
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(Associated Press/Washington Post) The European Union has approved U.S. soybean exports to be used in the production of biofuels in an effort to boost such imports following last summer’s trans-Atlantic meeting between President Donald Trump and his EU Commission counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker. The summit meeting was able to stave off a
February 5, 2019
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by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) Ethanol producers are preparing for major action at the federal level in the months ahead, both in terms of litigation against Trump administration actions on the nation’s renewable fuel mandate and lobbying to finalize rules regarding the ethanol mandate. “You know, 2019 is going to be
January 29, 2019
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by Jeff Barber (Opis Biofuels News) The U.S. ethanol industry, which spent most of 2018 dealing with the fallout from EPA’s decision to allow a record number of small refineries to escape their Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance obligations, believes the agency will take a more measured approach to exemption requests
January 29, 2019
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(Renewable Fuels Association) E15. Clean. Affordable. Domestic. Fuel. There’s been a lot of talk recently about “E15,” a biofuel blend of gasoline that contains 15 percent ethanol, a product that comes from crops grown by American farmers. E15 burns cleaner and cooler than gasoline, lowers gas prices, and reduces oil imports. Unfortunately,
January 19, 2019
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by Gino Grandoni (Washington Post) … Nominally, the hearing was convened to consider the nomination of former coal lobbyist and ex-Senate aide Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. … In the past six months alone the EPA under Wheeler has proposed relaxing emission limits on power plants and freezing them for
January 18, 2019
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(Renewable Fuels Association) With the government shutdown threatening to further delay approval of year-round sales of E15 (gasoline containing 15% ethanol), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to focus strictly on year-round E15 provisions in its forthcoming proposed rule and address RIN reform measures in a separate
January 18, 2019
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by David Shepardson (Reuters) Executives at the major U.S. automakers are pressing the Trump administration and California to agree on standards for fuel efficiency and carbon emissions through 2025, as risks increase that a deadline for setting national standards will pass without a deal. Automakers are already entering the time frame when
January 16, 2019
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(Bergeson & Campbell) On January 10, 2019, Representative Roger Williams (R-TX) introduced a bill (H.R. 431) that would repeal the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. CAFE standards are set by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and EPA. President Trump last year proposed to freeze CAFE standards at
January 16, 2019
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by Jonathan Lemire (Associated Press/Washington Post) President Donald Trump urged farmers Monday to stick with him even as many grapple with the impact of his trade war with China and the partial government shutdown. … Trump said the wall was needed to cut down on illegal immigration, even though border crossings have
January 15, 2019
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by Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it would complete a rule to boost sales of higher-ethanol blends of gasoline by the summer driving season, despite a partial government shutdown. The statement from the environmental regulator came after the agency warned at least two
January 9, 2019
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by Pete Ricketts (Office of Governor of Nebraska/Star Herald) As we enter the new year, I have put together a list of goals for our state in 2019. I am sharing a few of them here. … Year-Round E15 – In October, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and I joined President Trump in
January 4, 2019
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by David Kruse (The CommStock Report/Spencer Daily Reporter) From a subscriber: “I asked my local Cenex manager why the price of E85 was still high. E10 has dropped 43 cents in the last couple of months and E85 hasn’t changed from $1.94. He told me that the RIN price has often been close
January 4, 2019
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by Mario Parker and Jennifer A Dlouhy (Bloomberg) Year-round 15% ethanol-gas blend by summer now seen at risk; Shutdown could join trade war in limiting farmer income — … The government shutdown that Trump says could last “a long time” without funding for a border wall may hurt farmers by delaying the administration’s
January 4, 2019
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by Wesley Swift (S&P Global Platts) The market for Renewable Identification Numbers looked for relief in 2019 after a tumultuous 2018. Uncertainty over the nation’s renewable fuel policy created a volatile market for RINs, the credits used by refiners and fossil fuel importers to prove compliance with federal renewable fuel blending
January 3, 2019
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) An executive order on forest management issued by President Trump in late December addresses how rural economies can benefit through the utilization of byproducts created by forest restoration efforts. Trump issued the executive order on Dec. 21. It is officially titled “Promoting Active Management of America’s
January 2, 2019
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by Brian Jennings (American Coalition for Ethanol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Looking back to one year ago, ethanol renewable identification numbers (RINs) were fetching nearly 70 cents (a valuable incentive for ethanol blending), exports were swelling to record volumes, and EPA was promising to consider granting Reid vapor pressure (RVP) relief for E15.
January 2, 2019
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by Emily Skor (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) … We expect a proposed rule in February, followed by a public hearing and comment process. President Donald Trump’s administration has clearly stated its intention to have a rule in place by June 1—when the 2019 summer driving season begins. Our opponents will try
January 2, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) … A waiter in a Cedar Rapids restaurant, for instance, recently asked Shaw (Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association) about Trump’s E15 waiver, upon hearing that Shaw advocates for biofuels and ethanol through the IRFA. “So here’s a waiter in the
January 2, 2019
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by Mario Parker (Bloomberg) Producers hopeful Chinese ethanol purchases are coming next; Biofuel, made from corn, helps support farm-belt growth — A little love from China in the U.S. ethanol market during the trade-war detente between Washington and Beijing could go a long way in soothing the ailing American farm economy. That’s according
December 24, 2018
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(Renewable Fuels Association) Eleven years ago today, President George W. Bush signed into law what has become the single most successful clean fuels policy in the United States–the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). The RFS2, included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, requires petroleum refiners and importers to
December 19, 2018
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by Barbara Moran (WBUR News) There’s more proof that greenhouse gases are dangerous to human health. That’s the conclusion of a study published Thursday in the journal Science, for which researchers reviewed hundreds of scientific papers on climate change published since 2009. The study supports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which labeled six greenhouse gases
December 14, 2018
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by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times) When the Trump administration laid out a plan this year that would eventually allow cars to emit more pollution, automakers, the obvious winners from the proposal, balked. The changes, they said, went too far even for them. But it turns out that there was a hidden
December 14, 2018
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by Humeyra Pamuk and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The White House is delaying additional payments from a $12 billion aid package for farmers stung by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China because it expects Beijing to resume buying U.S. soybeans, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move comes despite
December 14, 2018
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by P.J. Huffstutter and Mark Weinraub (Reuters) … Federal economists have calculated that the nation’s losses in corn – its largest crop by harvest and export volume – amount to just a penny per bushel, a pittance farmers call absurd. That’s in stark contrast to the substantial $1.65 per bushel the
December 7, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Iowa, white smoke has emerged from the REGI conclave: Tesoro EVP and former Sapphire Energy CEO C.J. Warner has been named chief exec of Renewable Energy Group, at a pivotal moment for biodiesel in Washington and around the world and amidst a boom for renewable diesel
December 7, 2018
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by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) … “There’s a very tight window between today and June 1,” says Brian Jennings, CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol. “The big-picture goal is for the proposed rule to be out for public comment and for EPA to wrap up a final rule prior
December 6, 2018
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by Lisa Gibons (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Tariffs in China and Brazil have deeply affected U.S. ethanol exports, but other markets remain, new ones are opening and opportunities still abound for the world’s lowest-cost octane. Despite a 20 percent tariff rate quota implemented in 2017, Brazil has continued to purchase significant amounts
December 6, 2018
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South Dakota Farmers Union: Say No to E15 Rule; Farmer Leader Says We Can Do Better
(South Dakota Farmers Union) On the eve of a public hearing to receive comments on the long awaited ruling to allow year round rvp relief for E15, the South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) called the rule a backdoor effort to limit ethanol blends. In a call with supporters today, SDFU President