Energy Security Group Makes Case for Car Rules as Trump Tweets

(Washington Examiner) The military cost of defending oil trade routes makes a solid case for keeping in place strong fuel-economy standards, the group Securing America’s Future Energy said in a report released soon after Trump began tweeting about OPEC prices on Thursday.

“Following President Trump’s OPEC tweet this morning, in which he points to the Middle East as benefitting from protection, this brief highlights the military and taxpayer cost of our oil dependence and reinforces why the administration should take actions here at home to reduce oil’s monopoly as a transportation fuel,” said Bridget Bartol, spokeswoman for the group, in releasing the report Thursday morning.

Trump’s direction for fuel economy: To her point, the Trump administration is doing the opposite. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to freeze fuel-economy standards at, or near, current levels, instead of increasing them as the previous administration had paved the way for.

More oil and more fuel-sipping cars go together: The group is made up of both business CEOs and former military leaders, and supports both increased oil production and maintaining strong fuel economy rules for cars and trucks.

The goal is to “lessen U.S. vulnerability to the OPEC-manipulated oil market -- particularly while fuel economy standards are under review,” Bartol explained in summarizing the report’s recommendations.

Autonomous vehicles would help: The group supports including autonomous vehicle technology in federal fuel economy rules, arguing that the new technology will make driving more efficient by anticipating speed changes and other factors that lessen fuel consumption.

The report finds that EPA and other federal agencies must “more accurately assess the military cost to the U.S. of protecting global oil supplies” to better understand the “military cost/benefit of the Fuel Economy Standards program.”

An $81 billion price tag: One of report’s top findings is that the U.S. military spends at least $81 billion per year to protect global oil supplies. That is nearly 16 percent of recent Department of Defense budgets.

The report recommends reducing oil use in the transportation sector through the vehicle rules would allow for the possibility of shifting U.S. military priorities toward more critical strategic threats.

Other things to spend money on: “If we can reduce our dependence on oil, we could reduce our presence in the Gulf and use the funds for other critical military priorities, like cybersecurity or hypersonic weapons,” said General Duncan McNabb, former commander of the U.S. Transportation Command and member of the group’s leadership council.

“The same funds could support different security priorities. We would make different choices, that would make us safer and more secure,” McNabb added.

TRUMP AGAIN GETS PRODDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT BIOFUELS: The biodiesel industry became the latest group on Thursday to prod President Trump to do something to help farmers by increasing the annual federal target for blending renewable fuels into the nation’s fuel supply.

“Biodiesel adds value to every bushel of soybeans and plays an important role by providing a market for surplus soybean oil,” the National Biodiesel Board and American Soybean Association wrote in a Thursday letter to Trump. “Today, farming income is at its lowest level in more than a decade. Even as soybean growers set production records this year, they are experiencing depressed prices and market uncertainty.”

House members add to the pressure: The letter followed lawmakers from the House sending a letter to EPA acting administrator Wheeler on Wednesday, urging him to make good on Trump’s promise to allow year-round blending of 15-percent ethanol fuel blends -- an idea the oil industry is adamantly opposed to, as is made clear in an Internet ad campaign it has been running.

Refiners push back: At the same time, the refinery industry is urging the administration not to listen to the ethanol industry’s arguments that EPA’s refinery waiver program is causing “demand destruction” for farmers seeking to sell more ethanol.

The agency issued over two dozen waivers, allowing refineries to avoid the cost of buying expensive ethanol credits to comply with the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Coincidently, the waivers have lowered the cost of the ethanol credits that the refiners must buy to comply with the standard. READ MORE