Windsor/Ottawa/Washington | Reuters — Truckers blocking U.S-Canada border crossings risk hurting the auto industry and agriculture, the White House said on Wednesday as Ottawa urged an end to the 13-day demonstration against coronavirus mandates. After nearly two years of pandemic measures in many countries, opposition has sprung up in different ways with copycat protests in […] Read more
Canada, U.S. fear economic damage from border crossing protest
Headway in one area, another protest elsewhere, minister says
U.S. EPA proposes biofuel mandate cuts
Proposal seen as boost to pandemic-hit refiners
New York | Reuters — The Biden administration proposed on Tuesday a reduction in the amount of biofuels that U.S. oil refiners were required to blend into their fuel mix since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-awaited decision offers some relief to the U.S. refining industry after the health crisis slammed domestic demand […] Read more
U.S. EPA to propose expanding credit eligibility under biofuel program
New York | Reuters — The Biden administration is expected to propose expanding the kinds of renewable fuel production processes that are eligible to receive credits under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard program, three sources familiar with the matter said. The move could help increase production of advanced biofuels, which include lower-carbon products such as […] Read more
U.S. EPA recommends lowering 2020 biofuel mandates retroactively
Agency not confirming or denying sources' statements
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended retroactively lowering biofuel blending mandates for 2020, two sources familiar with the matter said, after the agency on Thursday sent a proposal on the mandates to the White House for review. The move could provide immediate relief to oil refiners that have to comply with the […] Read more
U.S. refiners amass biofuel liability as Biden mulls relief
Open RIN positions could hit refiners' earnings
New York | Reuters — U.S. merchant refiners have amassed up to a US$1.6 billion shortfall in the credits they will need to comply with U.S. biofuel laws, according to a Reuters review of corporate disclosures, an apparent bet that the Biden administration could let them off the hook or that credit prices will fall. […] Read more
U.S. oil industry seeks unusual alliance with Farm Belt against electric vehicle agenda
'We weren't born yesterday'
New York | Reuters — The U.S. oil industry is seeking to forge an alliance with the nation’s corn growers and biofuel producers to lobby against the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, but is so far meeting a cool reception, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. The effort marks an unusual attempt […] Read more
Trump backs plan boosting biofuel quotas 10 per cent in 2020
New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has tentatively approved a plan to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners are required to blend each year to compensate for exemptions handed out to small refiners by the Environmental Protection Agency, two sources familiar with the matter said. The plan is intended to […] Read more
White House seen aiming to calm U.S. farmer unrest over biofuels
New York/Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s administration has been scrambling to stem the tide of rising anger in Farm Belt states after its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump held a two-hour meeting on Monday with members of […] Read more
U.S. ethanol industry nearing breaking point: Green Plains CEO
New York | Reuters – The U.S. ethanol industry is about to break under the weight of the Trump Administration’s trade war with China and the surge in the number of small refineries exempted from the nation’s biofuel laws, said Todd Becker, CEO of Green Plains. The U.S. ethanol industry was preparing for growth in […] Read more
As Biden tours Iowa, farmers want to know where he stands on ethanol
New York | Reuters — Joe Biden may have an ethanol problem. The former U.S. vice-president has pledged support for advanced biofuels as part of his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But Biden, who leads the crowded Democratic field in opinion polls in Iowa and nationally, faces lingering questions in the U.S. Farm […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
