New Renewable Fuel Standard A Mixed Blessing For Agriculture

by Lisa Hare (Yankton Press & Dakotan) The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent final ruling on the national Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was met with mixed responses by farm state politicians and organizational leaders.

“This is a good news/bad news announcement for American agriculture producers,” Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) stated in a recent press release. “While I’m glad to see ethanol and biodiesel will qualify as advanced biofuels under the RFS, I have concerns with the international indirect land use portion of this final rule,” he added.

...“In South Dakota, we have seen the positive effect that renewable fuels production can have on job growth, and we recognize that biofuels can reduce our dependence on imported oil,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in a recent press conference. “I believe that biofuels can make an even greater contribution to our country’s economic health and national security, but there are causes for concern with the Obama administration’s current biofuels policy.”

...“Under the EPA’s rule, domestic ethanol is punished by so-called indirect land use calculations,” Thune said. He added that the EPA is relying on “flawed models and an ideological slant” to count carbon emitted by land use decisions in other countries against American ethanol production.

National Farmers Union (NFU) president Roger Johnson echoed these concerns. ... “It is unfortunate that farmers trying to be part of a domestic energy solution will be penalized for land use changes in other countries on which we can only offer estimates,” Johnson said. READ MORE