Advanced BioFuels USA

Elvin Anawaguna (Roll Call/MSN)  Biofuel groups upped their spending on lobbying this year as they pressured lawmakers and the Trump administration on issues related to the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets minimum volumes of biofuels to be used to power cars and trucks.

Some of those efforts appear to be paying off for now, as the Trump administration has proposed to allow year-round sales of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol, or E15, which is currently prohibited between June and September. 

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According to lobbying disclosures filed with the Senate Office of Public Records, major biofuels groups spent more in the first three quarters of this year than in the same period in 2017 on issues relating to the RFS.

The Renewable Fuels Association spent $1.19 million in that period, up from $908,000 in 2017.

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The Advanced Biofuels Association spent $320,000 from Q1 to Q3, up from $270,000 in the same period last year, and is on pace to surpass the $360,000 it spent overall in 2017.

Growth Energy, another biofuels trade group, spent $1.37 million between January and September, up from the $1.14 in the same period last year, the public records show. While spending during the third quarter alone was $5,000 less than the $405,000 in Q3 2017, this year’s overall spending has already exceeded the $1.35 million the group spent last year.

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The groups lobbied on a number of RFS-related bills, including HR 1311 by Nebraska Republican Rep. Adrian Smith, and the related S 517 by Sen. Deb Fischer, that would ease limits on E15. The groups also pushed against bills like HR 1315 by GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, which would reduce the volume of biofuels mixed in transportation fuels, and HR 1314, which would repeal the RFS program.

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Sioux Falls, South Dakota,-based biofuels producer POET LLC spent $1.47 million on lobbying from January to September this year, up from $1.28 million in the same period in 2007. It spent $720,000 in the third quarter, up from $580,000 in the same period last year. 

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Even as the biofuels industry pushes for higher ethanol blends, some Democrats in Congress who once supported the RFS now worry about environmental harm as wildlands are converted to corn and soybean farms. They’re joined by oil patch lawmakers like Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming and Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma who have taken the side of the oil industry, which has called for a repeal or overhaul of the RFS.

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American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a trade association that represents refiners and has spent less this year so far on lobbying, did not directly talk about the group’s strategy but said the decision to lift E15 restriction is unlawful and would add to problems surrounding RFS.  READ MORE

It’s time to get to work (Batesville Herald Tribune)