by Julian Spector, Julia Pyper (Greentech Media)  States are imposing fees on the small population of EV drivers in a broader push to shore up road repairs.  —  Several states have passed or enacted new …

by Hugh Hewitt  (The Washington Post)  … One obvious answer is to raise the existing federal levy that makes the most sense to the most voters: the federal gas tax. Currently less than 19 cents a gallon (higher …

by Josh Boak and Jill Colvin (Associated Press/ABC News) President Donald Trump on Monday said he will explore the possibility of higher gasoline and diesel fuel taxes, suggesting an increase could pay for his ambitious …

by Damian Paletta (The Washington Post)  President Trump on Monday said he was open to raising the federal tax on gasoline and using the new revenue for his infrastructure package, a potentially major policy change as …

(NGT News)  California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has signed into law the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, which will raise $52.4 billion over the next decade through an increase in fuel taxes and …

by Robert Walton (Utility Dive)  The Sierra Club says six states have proposed legislation this year that would add to the cost of owning an electric vehicle, worrying clean energy advocates who say owning emissions-free …

by Laura Blewitt (Bloomberg Markets)  Need high-octane for that BMW? New sulfur curb boosts the cost; Seven U.S states pile on with higher tax rates for 2017  —  A new federal rule cuts the amount of …

(The Washington Post)  … Even with current conditions factored in, government experts project that fuel-efficiency standards will put much more downward pressure on gasoline use in coming years, helping to bring consumption well below historical highs …

by Alex Guillén (Politico Pro)  Lawmakers must raise the gas tax and index it to inflation, or “America’s going to continue to be one big pothole,” former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today, using one …

by David Weigel and John Wagner (The Washington Post)  … Sanders’s role is under discussion, but he has said a more immediate priority is trying to find common ground on the issues he championed during the …

by Robert Kozak* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  We welcome US Representatives Adam Kinzinger, Barbara Comstock, Joe Heck, Chris Gibson, Ryan Costello, Kevin Yoder, Richard Hanna, Dave Reichert, Elise Stefanik, Carlos Curbelo, Tom Reed and Bob Dold …

by Brad Plummer (VOX)  … Note that the CAFE standards come up for a midterm review in 2017. Some automakers have been arguing that the rules should be weakened in light of recent low oil prices …

(Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  On February 9, 2016, President Obama released his $4.15 trillion fiscal year (FY) 2017 federal budget proposal, a 5 percent increase over 2016. In his final budget request, President Obama …

(The Washington Post Editorial)  … In his new budget proposal, Mr. Obama is proposing a $10-per-barrel fee on oil, which would translate into about 24 cents per gallon of refined gasoline. He would spend the proceeds …

by Ayesha Rascoe and Valerie Volcovici  (Reuters)  U.S. President Barack Obama will launch a long-shot bid next week to impose a $10-a-barrel tax on crude oil that would fund the overhaul of the nation’s aging …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  There’s historic news out now — that E85 fuel is available on a wholesale basis for less than 85 cents per gallon. The Anderson’s in Denison, Iowa are wholesaling E85 …

by David Shepardson and Paul Lienert (Reuters)  Surging demand for trucks and SUVs fueled by cheap gasoline is holding back improvements in U.S. fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions, a government report due out on …

by Danny King (AutoBlog)  Washington, Colorado, Virginia And Oregon Also On Growing List  —   These fees were put into place in order to offset the revenue shortfall from more fuel efficient vehicles, electrified powertrains, …

by Ashley Halsey III (The Washington Post) … The long-sought bill protects funding for transit from those who argued it should be cut loose from the highway bill, increases money for pedestrian and bicycle programs that also …

by Tony Antonelli (Next Gen Transportation News)  … Notably, three of the bills – H.B.4736, H.B.4738 and H.B.4614 (now P.A.174, P.A.176 and P.A.178, respectively) – directly impact the clean fuels industry.
P.A.174: Sponsored by State Rep. Michael …

(The Washington Post)  …  But the process apparently isn’t open enough to allow for a vote on the most obvious transportation solution: raising the gasoline tax to pay for the country’s roads and rails.
In the …

by Ian K. Kullgren  (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)  … One of the law’s biggest advocates threatened to join forces with opponents this week over proposed changes. A new environmental coalition launched ads attacking proposed ballot measures. Lawsuits …

by Stephanie Mercier (Ag Web)  The U.S. biofuels sector marks its birth back in 1979, when Congress established a blender’s credit for ethanol as the earliest piece of federal biofuel policy as part of the Energy …

“If we’re serious about reducing Climate Change caused by Green House Gases, then we need serious actions,” said Joanne Ivancic, Executive Director of Advanced Biofuels USA on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. “The first steps …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Advanced Biofuels USA introduced a new idea for capturing externalities of non-renewable fuels at the Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum held in the Caucus Room …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  This year’s CREEE EXPO + Forum brought together 46 organizations showcasing a cross-section of renewable energy (biofuels/biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) and energy efficiency technologies, including at least three …

(Argus Media)  Oregon governor Kate Brown (D) and a group of eight legislators have negotiated a proposal to kill the state’s new low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in return for a 4¢/USG rise in the gasoline …

by Roseline Okere (The Guardian (Nigeria)) The International Energy Agency (IEA) has projected that increasing investment in renewable energy technologies in the power sector will increase from $270 billion in 2015 to $400 billion in 2030.
…
It …

by Damian Carrington  (The Guardian)  ‘Shocking’ revelation finds $5.3tn subsidy estimate for 2015 is greater than the total health spending of all the world’s governments — Fossil fuel companies are benefitting from global subsidies of $5.3tn (£3.4tn) …

by  Keith Laing (The Hill)  A bipartisan group of House members has filed legislation to hike the federal gas tax and index it to inflation to pay for a new transportation bill.  The measure would …

(Rapid City Journal)  South Dakota drivers will be paying more for that privilege in the very near future.  The 2015 S.D. Legislature, with guidance from an Interim Committee on Highway Needs and Financing, overwhelmingly passed …

by Chad Smith (Midwest Producer) “We threw a whole bunch of stuff up on the wall to see if anything sticks.” Dave VanderGriend quoted a Kansas state legislator describing House Bill (HB) 2401, a proposal to …

(The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association/Biodiesel Magazine)  The Iowa Legislature created a 3-cent per gallon differential tax rate for B11 and higher biodiesel blends in the road funding legislation passed Feb. 24. This provision is expected to …

(Associated Press) Gov. Matt Mead has signed into law a bill that extends the state fuels tax to include alternative highway fuels, including natural gas, pure ethanol, E85 and biodiesel.
The new law, which Mead signed on …

The critically important Highway Trust Fund is running on empty and will come to a grinding halt at the end of May, unless Congress finds a way to replenish it. Lawmakers in the nation’s capital …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Advanced Biofuels USA has long supported increasing the highway user fee to address our transportation infrastructure–and to support development and deployment of renewable transportation fuels.
Scott Pope, whose background is in …

by Fawn Johnson (National Journal)  Some lawmakers say there needs to be a rebate for low-income families. Others call it a “user fee.”   Lawmakers may have finally run out of arcane accounting options to …

by Dana Milbank (The Washington Post)  Tom Donohue, the longtime president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, sounded ebullient as he gave his annual report on the health of American business Wednesday.
…
“It seems to be …

(Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA 2nd)) New bill would ensure solvency of Highway Trust Fund, fully-fund public transportation — Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) today introduced the Gas Tax Replacement Act of 2015, new legislation to stabilize …

by Chris Mooney (The Washington Post)  …  For environmentalists, it symbolizes the increasingly urgent need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. For Republicans, it symbolizes everything they hate about how environmentalists seek to block …

by Editorial Board (The Washington Post)  THE PRICE of crude oil dipped below $50 a barrel on Monday. National gasoline prices average a little over $2 a gallon. On principle and on politics, now is …

by Lawrence Summers (The Washington Post)  The case for carbon taxes has long been compelling. With the recent steep fall in oil prices and associated declines in other energy prices, it has become overwhelming. There is …

by Mac Margolis (Bloomberg View)  Brazilian airline Gol set out earlier this year to launch the world’s first commercial flight powered partly by renewable fuel made from sugar cane.
Fermenting ordinary sugar into jet fuel ended …

by Paul Bledsoe (The Washington Post) A dramatic 40 percent drop in oil prices since June has prompted new discussion aboutraising the long-static federal gasoline tax and has many states considering gas tax hikes as well. …

by Paul Waldman (The Washington Post)  … The Congressional Budget Office says that starting next year, the fund won’t have enough money to meet its obligations, and keep in mind that means just the projects that are already …

by Bill Chameides (Duke University)  While the Highway Trust Fund did a fine job of funding infrastructure maintenance for decades, it now is sorely lacking. The taxes collected are nowhere near enough to fund what is …

by Robert Rapier (Biofuels Digest/Energy Trends Insider)  … Today, nine years after I began writing about energy, we have an ethanol industry that has undergone rapid growth, but it is an industry that still relies heavily …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A new, technology-neutral tax credit for the domestic production of clean transportation fuel? Read on.
In Washington, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) unveiled the latest package in a series …

by Ashley Halsey III (The Washington Post)  With Congress facing a major shortfall in transportation funding next year, a House bill introduced Wednesday would raise the federal gasoline tax by 15 cents per gallon to close …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington, the EPA released its 2014 proposed standards and volumes for renewable fuels. The volumes, as widely expected, include substantial reductions from the statutory standards in the original Energy Independence & …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  … Dehran Duckworth, a managing partner at Tri-State Biodiesel, said this was the first year Tri-State Biodiesel won the contract to supply the Aggreko plc generators and temperature control equipment for …

by Tamara Timothy (Guernsey News)  …Treasury and Resources announced in their Budget that they are going to investigate putting excise duty on biodiesel.
…Peter Mac Gill said: “It does produce a useful service for the island …

(US Senate Finance Committee)  This document is the fourth in a series of papers compiling tax reform options that Finance Committee members may wish to consider as they work towards reforming our nation’s tax system.  This …

(EconMatters/Business Insider)  … But it looks like what may be good for the environment, is actually bad news for the government.
You see, for each gallon of gasoline or diesel we gas up in our cars, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Bio-Refinery Begins Operations Turning Co-Cropping into Fuels, Chemicals
Deep in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam a small bio-refinery is converting seaweed into protein, fuel-blendable alcohol, and a bacterial soil product. …

by James Stafford (OilPrice.com)  … To help us look at these issues and more we managed to speak with the well known economist James Kwak. James is an associate professor at the University of Connecticut School …

by David Shephardson  (Detroit News)   The Obama administration has finalized the landmark 2017-25 fuel economy rules that will nearly double the efficiency of the nation’s cars and trucks over the next 13 years to …

by David Shephardson (Detroit News)  Automakers asked the Obama administration Monday to make modest changes to a proposed boost in fuel efficiency standards for the 2017-2025 model years and to allow the use of some …

by O. Kay Henderson (RadioIowa)  Iowa’s gas tax would be eight cents per gallon higher by April, 2014 under a proposal that has cleared a five-member House panel.
The bill also calls for new yearly fees …

by Jim Motavalli  (New York Times)  Drivers of purely electric vehicles avoid paying the gas taxes included in the cost of a petro-product fill-up. Consequently, if E.V.’s were to become widely adopted, less money could flow into …

(WRAL)  Lack of action by state lawmakers and Congress is expected to raise gas prices in North Carolina by more than 8 cents a gallon, starting Sunday.
Half of the increase comes from the state. North …

(Green Car Congress)  A new study by economists at Oregon State University questions the cost-effectiveness of current biofuels and says they would barely reduce fossil fuel use and would likely increase greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers focused …

(The Economist/Free Exchange)  LAST week I noted that volatile oil prices have played an underappreciated role in recent business cycles. Over the weekend, James Hamilton published additional analysis of oil-price changes since last year, and he presents …

by David Shepardson and Christina Rogers (The Detroit News)   General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, …

(Congressional Budget Office)  The federal government collects revenues from taxes paid by highway users, mostly from those levied on gasoline and diesel fuel, and credits them to the Highway Trust Fund. Those revenues and others are subsequently …

by Dan Chapman   (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)  …Higher gas prices could finally translate into a sustainable market for Georgia’s alternative energy industry.
…And, finally, a shift from gas and diesel to home-grown energy, i.e. ethanol for cars and …

by Henry Blodget (Huffington Post) …Over the long term, of course, given a finite supply of oil and ever-increasing demand for it, oil prices are going to keep on rising. And remaining in denial about …

by Darren Goode (Politico)  With Republicans controlling the House and ramping up oversight and investigations of the Obama administration, focus at least initially in the next Congress will be on the Senate to lay a …

by Lori Montgomery  (The Washington Post) …
The senator is a strong advocate of responsible budgeting and has long called for increasing the gas tax, the traditional financing source for the nation’s roadways. He said he …

(Washington Post)  Editorial    …What better time to revisit the enduring, maddening, illogical contrast between how little Americans actually pay to drive — and how fiercely they resist even modest gasoline tax increases that would go …

by Darren Samuelsohn  (New York Times)   Key senators are weighing a request from Big Oil to levy a carbon fee on the industry rather than wrap it into a sweeping cap-and-trade system that covers most …

by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson (Washington Post)  Three key senators are engaged in a radical behind-the-scenes overhaul of climate legislation, preparing to jettison the broad “cap-and-trade” approach that has defined the legislative debate for …

by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Contemplating the continued inability of the US to meet the biofuels and advanced biofuels production and sales expectations codified in the Renewable Fuels Standard, the Advanced Biofuels USA board …