Biofuel Groups Hopeful Biden Administration Will Restore the RFS
Future of the RFS Farm Journal Report
As President-elect Joe Biden is set to be sworn in Wednesday, renewable fuels groups are focused on what a new administration will mean for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
“The Biden administration is coming in with a lot of loose ends left on the RFS,” says Geoff Cooper, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). .
One of those loose ends is with releasing volume obligations for 2021 under the RFS.
“That's always been the problem with RVOs,” says Jon Doggett, CEO of National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). “It isn't just the Trump administration. RVOS need to be done on time, because not only does the ethanol industry needs some certainty, but the refining industry and the petroleum industry, they need certainty, as well.”
National Sorghum Producers (NSP) CEO Tim Lust says renewable fuels are vital to more than just corn, but also sorghum.
“Sometimes I think people underestimate just the impact of how big of an issue this really is,” says Lust. “It is a huge issue for U.S. agriculture.”
As Biden takes office, renewable fuels groups are hopeful the tone in the White House will soon change.
“He campaigned on very strong statements of support for the Renewable Fuel Standard,” says Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy. “He very severely admonished the Trump administration’s EPA for its abuse of the small refinery exemptions. So, certainly within the first 100 days, there's going to be opportunities for the EPA, in particular, to take action to right the ship and restore integrity to the Renewable Fuel Standard. If the new administration does that, that's like an injection of adrenaline in the arm of rural America.”
Doggett says groups like NCGA are hopeful Biden’s team will restore the RFS and make key changes based on the outreach NCGA and others have already experienced. He says proactive outreach is already sprouting from the Biden transition team.
“I have been in Washington since Ronald Reagan was president, so I’ve seen administrations come go and go, I have never seen the kind of outreach to agriculture that I’ve seen with the Biden folks,” says Doggett. “It isn't a one or two calls, it has been multiple calls at multiple levels. Across the board, many different organizations.”
Top Biden picks are also reaching out to Congress. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said she spoke with Agriculture Secretary appointee Tom Vilsack. And among the list of topics discussed was ethanol.
The Renewable Fuels Association says if Biden wants to focus on climate change, ethanol may be a way to do that. A recent RFA study found rejecting the small refinery waivers could secure 10.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases.
“We're hopeful that day one in office, we're going to see EPA clarify that this this nonsense with giving out these small refinery exemptions is done, and put that whole sort of chapter of the RFS behind us,” says Cooper.
Renewable fuels groups are hopeful a Biden Administration won’t just stop small refinery exemptions, but implement the RFS as congress intended.
“I would say we need to couple restoring integrity with the RFS with getting our nation back on its feet in the wake of COVID-19,” says Skor. “So certainly, we need both of those things. And then we've got to make sure that we continue to capitalize on the momentum of higher blends, like E15.”
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