Ag Policy Blog
Fight Over Ethanol Just Beginning
As Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks about the waning political clout of rural America, the battle over the Renewable Fuels Standard is just beginning to test that clout.
The American Petroleum Institute announced a "all hands on deck" advertising campaign to go after the Renewable Fuels Standard , arguing that scrapping the RFS is the best way to strengthen the country's domestic refining industry for petroleum, according to articles reporting on a press conference API held on Tuesday.
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Growth Energy responded Wednesday that "Big Oil" is doing everything it can to protect the oil industry's market for gasoline. "While they often pay lip service to the importance of renewable fuel for our country's energy needs, at every turn they work to undermine them. Biofuels have helped reduce our dependence on foreign oil and created a robust domestic renewable fuels industry," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.
“Just the other day, API discussed how the RFS was broken, citing the blend wall as the primary challenge in a workable RFS," Buis added. "However, when it comes to the blend wall, Big Oil need only look in the mirror to see who is maintaining the status quo by protecting it. This is their entire play – if blend wall can’t be broken, the RFS won’t work. But Big Oil is maintaining the blend wall by erecting every possible barrier to bring increased blends of renewable fuel to the marketplace. While they opine for a free market, they are singlehandedly denying consumers a choice and savings at the pump by preventing a lower cost, high performance alternatives, such as E15."
API announced last fall the group's top political priority would be to eliminate the RFS. The lobby group for oil companies is pushing Congress to begin holding hearings on the RFS and EPA decisions such as the approval of E15.
The American Farm Bureau, in its policy session on Tuesday, inserted a line stating the group supports the Renewable Fuels Standard as it was approved by Congress in 2007.
I can be found on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN.
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