Murkowski Energy Plan Would Gut the RFS

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) On Feb. 4, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, released an energy blueprint that calls for a wide variety of changes to U.S. energy policy, including drastic changes to the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program.

According to the report, U.S. alternative fuel policies “rely on burdensome mandates, inappropriate restrictions, and erratic subsidization.” In the report, Murkowski also claims that the RFS program “has likely contributed to higher food prices; fraudulent activity that has harmed both those seeking to comply with federal rules and those attempting to commercialize new fuels; and potential and uncertain liabilities for fuel retailers and vehicle manufacturers.”

The plan calls for the “reform” of the RFS to ensure more equitable treatment of feedstocks; both renewable feedstocks like algae oil, and non-renewable feedstocks, such as natural gas and coal-derived products.

The proposal also calls for the repeal of Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The section prevents federal agencies from entering into a contract to procure alternative or synthetic fuels, including those from non-conventional petroleum sources, for mobility-related use, unless the contract specifies that the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuel are less than—or equal to—the equivalent conventional petroleum-based fuel. READ MORE and MORE (Senator Murkowski) and MORE (The Hill E2Wire)