U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Oct. 9, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Leah Millis)

Trump raises ethanol use in gasoline, appeases farmers ahead of elections

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump launched an effort on Tuesday to increase ethanol use in the nation’s gasoline pool, delivering a long-sought political victory to the nation’s Farm Belt and angering oil refiners ahead of November’s congressional elections. Trump announced the lifting of a ban on summer sales of gasoline blended with […] Read more

U.S. appeals court orders EPA to ban pesticide said to harm children

New York | Reuters – A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban a widely-used pesticide that critics say can endanger children and farmers. The 2-1 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle overturned former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s March 2017 denial of a petition by […] Read more

The Andersons’ ethanol plant at Denison, Iowa. (AndersonsEthanol.com)

U.S. EPA scraps plan to force refiners to blend more biofuels

New York | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ditched a detailed plan that would have forced refiners to blend more biofuels into their gasoline and diesel in 2019 to compensate for volumes likely to be exempted under the agency’s small refinery hardship waiver program, according to newly released EPA documents. The plan would […] Read more

(EPA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. biofuels industry, advocates see hope in Pruitt’s successor

New York | Reuters — Corn growers and biofuel producers cheered the resignation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt in the hope that his successor may give them more access and fewer threats to reducing domestic requirements. Pruitt led U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to roll back environmental protections. He drew the […] Read more

The Big River Resources ethanol plant at West Burlington, Iowa, about 120 km southwest of Davenport. (Steven Vaughn photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. EPA proposes higher 2019 biofuels mandate

Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed setting a blending mandate of 19.88 billion gallons for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), three per cent higher from this year’s and in line with expectations. The agency also said it is considering a number of measures to bring some transparency to the […] Read more



Valero Energy's ethanol plant at Aurora, S.D., about 90 km north of Sioux Falls.

U.S. EPA chief hints he could order more ethanol in fuel

New York | Reuters — A week after the White House suspended its bid to reform the nation’s biofuels policy to aid oil refiners, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday dangled a tantalizing prospect to Midwest corn farmers, saying the agency has the power to expand sales of higher-ethanol gasoline blends. […] Read more