The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial personnel are very much opposed to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. Their latest commentary takes on EPA’s recent announcements, saying it found “a convoluted way to expand ethanol subsidies to boost EVs.”
“Large refiners have started producing ‘advanced’ biofuels while smaller ones must buy credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs),” the WSJ item notes. “Increasing compliance costs have driven several small refiners to shut down. A refining shortage, especially on the East Coast, is a major reason prices for gasoline and diesel shot up early in the summer far more than for crude.”
The EPA proposal, the editorial says, “is one more way to boost EV margins at the likes of Tesla, which lobbied for inclusion in the RFS. As EPA explains, the new eRINs credits will ‘incentivize activities that can increase electrification of the fleet, which could include lowering the cost of EVs and/or increasing the availably [sic] of public access charging infrastructure.’”
WSJ’s bottom line: “The details of the scheme would win a Rube Goldberg award… In sum, the [Biden] administration is proposing another huge wealth transfer from folks who drive gas-powered cars to Tesla and other makers of electric vehicles.”
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