Update 2-White House Sets Meeting with Senators on Biofuels Next Week -Sources

by Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters/Successful Farming) The Trump administration has invited a
group of U.S. senators to the White House early next week to discuss biofuels policy, the latest in a series of such meetings aimed at helping refiners cope with the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The senators will include Republicans Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of corn state Iowa, along with Pat Toomey and Ted Cruz of refinery states Pennsylvania and Texas, according to the sources, who asked not to be named. The meeting will take place on Monday or Tuesday, they said. READ MORE

Excerpts from Politico's Morning Energy: Trump is expected to hold yet another meeting - and possibly his last - on the Renewable Fuel Standard this week, sources in the biofuel and refining industries tell Pro's Eric Wolff. It'll be the seventh meeting of its kind. Trump will host Sens. Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Ted Cruz and Pat Toomey on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting, this open letter to the president will run in today's editions of The New York Times, New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, calling on Trump to "unleash rural growth by cutting the red tape holding back homegrown energy." The full-page ads were placed by Growth Energy and signed by member plants from 18 states. READ MORE

Excerpts from Politico's Morning Energy: In what could perhaps be the final time, Trump plans to meet today with at least Sens. Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst, Ted Cruz and Pat Toomey to discuss their dueling priorities around federal ethanol policy. Who else will be in the room remains unclear, as sources told ME conflicting stories: An ethanol source said neither Pruitt, nor the Ag secretary, would be present, while a Republican Senate aide said both would be there.

A source said Team Ethanol's main goal is to get Trump to affirm his commitment to year-round sales of 15 percent ethanol, but the rest of the agenda seems to be unclear. A biofuels source said they expect Trump to kick the biofuels battle to Congress, where Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. John Shimkus have been trying to write a bill to overhaul the RFS. Cruz said at a Capitol Hill rally last week that he would view that decision as doing nothing. Cruz and Toomey are still seeking Renewable Fuel Standard changes to dramatically lower the program's compliance costs for refineries. Trump is scheduled to meet with Republican senators at 11:15 this morning, according to his public schedule.

- Continuing their push for year-round sales of E15, fuel retailers from 11 states sent a letter to Trump on Monday, calling on him to instruct EPA to immediately follow up on a pledge to allow the year-round sale of E15 before summer restrictions kick in on June 1. Read the letter here. Eighteen other groups, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, signed onto their own letter expressing concern with the administration's openness to the year-round sale of E15. And the American Energy Alliance launched a digital ad campaign Monday urging for the repeal of the RFS. Watch that ad here. READ MORE