Say It Ain’t So, Joe

by Michael McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biomass Magazine) ... As an industry, we simply cannot afford for the administration to stall for another year to announce the RVO for 2014, 2015 and 2016. However, as I look at the White House and the recent exodus of staff, I fear no one is paying attention to advancing the industry. The president and the new Congress need a stark reminder that we are key to their “all of the above energy strategy” or “greenhouse gas reduction strategy.” We cannot be left in suspended animation for two years in a row when the price of oil is $46 dollars a barrel. Now more than ever, we should realize that the folks across the ocean, who have lots of oil but are unable to grow biofuels in a desert, do not share our view of the world and would love for us as a nation to abandon our diversified portfolio approach to fuels policy moving forward.

As President Kennedy once said, “the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” If the president and Congress are serious about energy diversification, energy security and curbing greenhouse gas emissions, they need to look past the current low oil prices and work to give our industry the certainty and security it needs to grow. Because, while oil prices may be low now, we all know that $100 barrels of oil are not too far in the distant future. And when they return, we will need a diverse array of options available that only our industry can provide.

To add insult to injury, four out of the five biofuels related tax provisions were cut from the administration’s 2016 budget proposal and inexplicably no one has revised the cellulosic waiver credit number despite the difference between the wholesale price of gasoline. Our industry already faces many challenges, regulatory uncertainty should not have to be one. It is time to act. READ MORE